The Girl Who Lived
by Ditto
Summary: What would happen if Harry had a twin that no one knew about? How would the twin feel when they found out? Add in Fred Weasley, Draco's cousin, an insane Lavender Brown and you've got The Girl Who Lived. PG for language. COMPLETED (finally) RR!
1. Prologue

Well, here is my story. I know it's been done, but I really did come up with the idea on my own a long, long time ago. Some parts don't really make sense after we learned some things in the Order of the Phoenix, but I wrote this before it came out and I still want to share it. Please Review! Please Enjoy!  
  
The Girl Who Lived Prologue:  
  
"Master, it has been done. The Potters have made me their Secret- Keeper!" sputtered Peter Pettigrew. Peter (or Wormtail to those who knew him best) was a short, plump, and grubby man with messy colorless hair. He had little courage, and out of fear would do anything for "his master." The most remarkable thing about him was that he was an unregistered animagus, a wizard who could change himself into an animal. Peter transformed into a rat, perfectly matching his personality.  
"Excellent, Wormtail," said Peter's master, Lord Voldemort. His shrill laugh cut through the air. Tone dripping with cruel humor, he said, "I should be able to take care of them easily enough. Now where are they, Wormtail? Where are the Potters?"  
"Godric's Hollow, the Eastern hillside by the outskirts. 275 Hawthorne Lane. It's." Peter paused guiltily, but noticing his master's expectant stare he continued, "It's a blue house. You won't have any trouble finding it."  
His heart filled with shame. James Potter was a good friend, and Peter was sending certain death to his door. His guilt was strong, but his fear was stronger. Peter would never betray his master.  
"Wormtail!" Voldemort snapped, "Stop daydreaming and pay attention!"  
"Yes master," Peter cowered.  
"Make sure you prepare for our departure. We'll leave as soon as I return. This should not take long." And with that he disappeared, a shimmer in the night.  
  
Godric's Hollow is a small town about fifty miles from London. Named after one of the founders of Hogwarts, it was originally populated only by magic folk. But eventually the muggles heard about this charming little town, and they formed the western neighborhoods of Godric's Hollow. The east end of town is mostly magic, and muggles avoid it, for strange things always seem happen there.  
The night of Peter's betrayal was Halloween years ago, and the sun was just beginning to set. Small witches and wizards were out begging for pumpkin pasties and licorice wands.  
James and Lily Potter sat in their living room, admiring their two sleeping children, Harry and Daisy, baby fraternal twins. They looked very different, Harry with his father's tangled black hair and Daisy with Lily's soft red. Their one similarity was quite fortunate, hidden beneath their eyelids were two identical sets of marvelous green eyes with a sparkle to them.  
Lily thought back to the twins' birth, fifteen months ago. She and James were visiting Dumbledore at Hogwarts with their friends Sirius and Peter before the school year started.  
Lily was expecting the twins in about a week, but the time came while they were there. She was rushed to the hospital wing where Harry and Daisy were born.  
The squib test was performed immediately as usual. Harry performed normally, if not advanced. Daisy, however, did not do so well. She had very little magic about her. She was a squib.  
Those were dark times; everyone knew Voldemort was anti-squib and an enemy of the Potter family. Dumbledore advised them to keep Daisy's power level a secret, perhaps even her very existence, at least until she was older. Voldemort must not know that the Potters have a squib child. They decided that no one should know that Daisy was born. Few people knew that Lily had been pregnant; fewer knew she was expecting twins, only Lily's parents and another friend, Remus Lupin, in addition to those in the room. They would tell them they had lost one of the babies and only Harry was born.  
They also decided that Sirius would be their Secret-Keeper to protect the secret that Daisy was the daughter of the Potters. For all the time since then, Sirius kept the secret and the Daisy was safe. But Voldemort's power grew along with his web of allies and spies. A week ago, they gave Sirius the additional burden of knowing where the home of the Potters was. But, it was not hard for anyone to tell that Sirius was James's best friend and the one to get information out of. It became apparent that it was not safe to keep Sirius as their Secret-Keeper. Just that Halloween night the Potters made the switch of information from Sirius to Peter. No one would expect their shy friend of knowing anything. They thought it would be the perfect plan.  
  
"James," Lily murmured, "Maybe we should reveal her. Now that Peter is Secret-Keeper and everything."  
  
"Lily, no," James said firmly. "We've talked about this before. You know as well as I do that Voldemort is getting stronger. It would only put her in danger."  
  
"I know James, but she'll be so lonely. She'll have no one to play with because no one can even know about her."  
  
"She'll have Harry. We can hardly handle one child being known anyway. He'll be fine for now if we look out for him; he's very powerful for a child his age. But Daisy is as helpless as a muggle."  
  
"James!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"I'm sorry," said James, "but I couldn't stand it if something happened to her, to any of you just because we were careless."  
  
"Nothing's going to." Ding Dong  
  
"Trick-or-Treaters!" James announced. "I'll get it." He grabbed a small basket of chocolate frogs and went to the hall.  
  
A few moments later, Lily heard the door creak open and a cold, high pitched laugh.  
  
"Lily!" James gasped. "It's him! Take Harry and Daisy and go! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" Stumbling sounds came from the hall.  
  
"No," Lily thought. "Not him." Then she heard the hateful voice that confirmed her fear.  
  
"James Potter, we meet again," said Lord Voldemort.  
  
"Get out," James said. Lily could not listen anymore. She picked up the now awake twins and ran to the nursery. She scrambled to find James's old invisibility cloak. Finally, she pulled out a drawer and found it. She tenderly wrapped a whimpering Daisy in the shimmery material. She began to do the same for Harry when she heard a shout.  
  
"Avada Kedavra!"  
  
Lily sank to the floor with Harry in her arms. She knew what that spell meant. It meant inevitable death. "James, you can't be gone," she moaned, tears running down her cheeks. Harry looked up at her and reached for her face, wiping away a tear. Lily looked back at him, and snapped out of it.  
  
Bang!  
  
And there he stood in the doorway of the yellow nursery, a malicious smile on his lips. He had jet black hair and a pale face. His reddish eyes radiated with hatred as he glared coldly at baby Harry. Thinking quickly Lily put Harry on the floor behind her. Daisy was being quiet, so Lily decided to pretend she wasn't there.  
  
"Give me the boy," said the evil high pitched voice.  
  
"Never," spat Lily.  
  
"I'll give you one more chance. Give me the boy," Voldemort demanded. There was an edge of distress in his voice now.  
  
"No," Lily said, reaching for her wand.  
  
"Expelliarmus," Voldemort said lazily before she could point. Her wand flew through the air. "If you're going to be difficult.Crucio!"  
  
Lily felt pain, only pain. It was as if she was on fire, her bones were cracking to pieces, and a knife was coursing through her body, traveling through every vessel, every vein. Harry and Daisy were gone. All she could think of was the loss, and all she knew was pain. She screamed out, and wanted only an end. And suddenly it came. The yellow walls flooded back.  
  
"Now you will give me the CHILD!" Voldemort ordered, becoming aggravated.  
  
"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please.I'll do anything," Lily sobbed. She was shaking, lying on the floor.  
  
"Stand aside, you silly girl.stand aside, now."  
  
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead," she begged desperately.  
  
Voldemort cackled shortly. "Give me the boy, and I may spare your life."  
  
"Not Harry! Please.have mercy.have mercy."  
  
She reached behind, and pulled Harry close to her. "I love you," she whispered, speaking as much to her invisible daughter in the crib as her son in her arms. She jumped into the green flash of light "Avada Kedavra" as Voldemort aimed at her son. She was dead before she hit the floor. Voldemort was slightly annoyed, but he had an idea the stupid girl would do something like that.  
  
"Avada Kedavra," he said again, pointing his wand at Harry. There was a great explosion as Voldemort's spell met Harry's small body, but Harry was unaffected save for a jagged gash on his forehead. It was as if there was a shield around him, deflecting the curse. The house was gone, destroyed in the blow, but Harry remained safe and Daisy remained invisible and uninjured. Voldemort gave a cry. He was not fine. He was more a shadow than a person, his powers were gone. He could do no harm.  
  
"Noooooooooo!" the shadow shouted, towering over the boy. "You won't escape me again," he exclaimed hysterically, staring longingly at his own disfigured body. "You'll see, I'll return and kill you, just like I killed your foolish parents. I.will.not.be.defeated.by.you!"  
  
His words hung in the air as Harry began to cry. Daisy woke with a start and watched the scene through the cloak. Her mother was sleeping on the ground, her brother was crying, and the strange thing would not stop yelling. Voldemort could do nothing else so he fled, cursing the name Potter.  
  
Daisy poked her head through the folds of the cloak and stared at her brother. He looked up, glad to see a face he knew. He was comforted that the scary man was gone, and he nestled closer to his mother. She did not cuddle back. He wished she would wake up. "Mama," he said, "Mama?" And he wailed, calling out to her, but there was no reply.  
  
A/N: There you go. Kind of sad, I kno. Please, please, please review!!! Also, I don't own Lily and James and Voldie and. Well I just own Daisy! The rest are all J.K.'s of course. 


	2. Ashes to Ashes

Here's where the story really gets started. Have Fun!  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter One: Ashes to Ashes  
  
"Johnathan James Peterson and Elizabeth May Peterson may you rest in peace forever," said a stone-faced reverend solemnly.  
The churchgoers sat in silence for a while, thinking about the service.  
"They were very young," they thought. But no one knew them too well.  
All alone in the first pew was a fourteen year old girl. She sat very still and quietly, her face was an expression of complete loneliness. Her red hair was pulled back and silent tears slipped from her green eyes.  
"Daisy?" said a voice behind the girl.  
"Yes," she snuffled meekly. She turned around to see a lady with gray hair pulled back in a tight bun. She wore a navy business suit.  
"My name is Ms. Varnin, Daisy. I'm from social services." She pulled a folder from her bag and showed it to Daisy. It had her name and Ms. Varnin's at the top along with some "case details."  
"I'd like to speak to you about where you will be staying until we find you a permanent home."  
"I've been staying with my neighbors," said Daisy.  
"I see," Ms. Varnin said dismissively, "Tonight you will stay at our main office, and we'll then try to find a place for you to stay."  
"A foster home?" Daisy guessed.  
"Yes. Your parents' will did not name a legal guardian, and we could not locate any family members." Ms. Varnin explained.  
"Oh," Daisy said flatly.  
"We should leave soon. Now, say goodbye to your guests, then we will go." Ms. Varnin informed her pushily.  
"All right," Daisy agreed.  
  
As Ms. Varnin said, Daisy had no known living relatives. Her grandparents were all dead, and her parents had no siblings, like Daisy. She had been adopted when she was one year old, and John and Lizzy found her all alone. They never discovered who her biological parents were, and Daisy didn't really care. If they had abandoned her, she really didn't want to know them anyway. The only clue they had was the locket she was wearing. Inside there was an inscription reading: Daisy Lynn, 7-31-80'. There was also a picture of Daisy as a baby with a red haired woman. Everyone assumed it was her mother.  
  
Daisy headed to say goodbye to her neighbors, but before she reached them someone tapped her on her shoulder.  
  
"Um, hello, are you Daisy Peterson?" said a man with black hair and clear blue eyes. He was carrying a small book.  
  
"Yes," Daisy replied. She eyed the unruly man with suspicion. She had never seen him before.  
  
"My name is Sirius Black." He said, nervously looking over his shoulder. "I was a friend of your parents." He paused. "Your real parents."  
  
"You know my parents?" Daisy asked, flabbergasted.  
  
"Yes, I did," replied Sirius darkly.  
  
Daisy fingered her locket, thinking of the woman pictured inside. Now that she had a link to them, knowing something about her parents not might be so bad. She suddenly had a million questions to ask.  
  
"Who, who were they?" she stuttered, "Is this my mother?" she asked, snapping open the locket.  
  
Sirius stared at the picture awhile, looking stirred. "Yes, that's her," he said quietly. "I never thought I'd see that thing again."  
  
"Wow!" Daisy said, and then her face turned dark again. "Er, Mr. Black, why did they leave me there? Why didn't they want me?"  
  
"No, Daisy! They didn't abandon you at all," he said quickly. "Call me Sirius, will you?"  
  
"Sure, um, Sirius." She looked at him expectantly. "If they didn't abandon me, then.?"  
  
"They were murdered," Sirius said gravely. "They loved you very much. Everyone thought you were dead, too. Until I read in the newspaper about John and Lizzy, about how they had a daughter about your age named Daisy. I had to make sure. When I saw you, I knew. You look just like your mother."  
  
"What about, my dad?" Daisy inquired.  
  
"He was a good man," said Sirius looking down. "And there's your brother."  
  
"I have a brother?!" Daisy exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, a twin brother. His name is." Sirius suddenly stopped speaking; his face turned white. He was looking over Daisy's shoulder.  
  
"I have to go," he said hurriedly, shoving something into Daisy's hands, "This is for you. Goodbye Daisy. I'll contact you soon."  
  
Daisy turned to see what had startled Sirius. She saw only Ms. Varnin heading her way.  
  
"What's wrong-" Daisy said turning around. But Sirius was not there. He was gone. Daisy looked down at what he had given to her. It was a small book. She opened it up and looked inside. 'Daisy Lynn, born July 31st 1980 in Godric's Hollow' was inscribed in sparkle glue letters around a picture of a sleeping baby, her.  
  
"What's that?" asked Ms. Varnin's stern voice.  
  
"Nothing," Daisy snapped, slamming the book shut. "Just a book."  
  
"All right. Who was that man you were talking to?" Daisy was beginning to think Ms. Varnin was being a little nosy, but perhaps she needed nosiness in her line of work.  
  
"It was my neighbor," Daisy lied. She wasn't sure why she had lied for this stranger. He'd just confused her more than anything she'd ever felt.  
  
A/N: Sorry this is so short. none of the other chapters are. I hope you like Daisy. Please Review and all that good stuff. 


	3. The Letter to No One

Here we go.  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Two: The Letter to No One  
  
The main Social Services building was in London. After retrieving her things, Daisy was driven there to stay the night or possibly longer. She saw upon arrival that it was an old gray schoolhouse. In the office Ms. Varnin introduced her to one of the "nannies" that would help her.  
"Hallo, Daisy, me name's Hannah. You'll be sleepin' in Room Two with little Nellie," said the plump, late middle aged woman. She was in a green uniform and wore her graying red hair in a tight bun like Ms. Varnin. Daisy instantly took to her warm, motherly aura.  
"Okay," Daisy replied, with a small smile.  
"Come on now, I'll introduce ya." Hannah led Daisy down a dark hallway. On the walls were pictures of old headmasters. Hannah noticed Daisy gazing at the walls as they walked.  
"When we bough' this building, the school's 'eadmaster begged us not to change it up too much. There's still blackboards in the rooms, and we even named the 'ole place after the school: Grandrose Academy Social Services of London, Main Office," she said grandly.  
"Oh, cool!" Daisy said, sincerely.  
"Here we are," said Hannah as she knocked on the door. "Nellie, are you awake? There's someone here to meet you." There was a loud scrambling from inside the room. Hannah opened the door to a room with two beds. One was filled with a very small girl pretending to be asleep.  
"Nellie!" Hannah exclaimed crossly, "I know you're awake." Daisy was puzzled. Being awake was okay in her book.  
  
"Ah, darnit," said Nellie, sitting up.  
  
"Wha' were you doin' out of bed? You're still recoverin'." Hannah scolded.  
  
Nellie must have been sick, Daisy reasoned. Her appearance would support that. She was very pale, and had dark circles under her eyes. She wore a long nightdress, though it was not quite time for bed yet. Framing her face were tangles of thin blond hair.  
  
"Now settle down, and get some rest," Hannah instructed.  
  
"Yes, Miss Hannah," said the tiny girl, lying back.  
  
"She's just gotten over 'orrible measles. Poor girl, it nearly killed her, she's so bitty. You wouldn't guess it, but she's nearly ten."  
  
"Whoa," said Daisy.  
  
"Yes, well get yourself settled in. You've just missed dinner, but," Hannah said lowering her voice, "I'm sure you could raid the kitchens after lights out."  
  
"Thank you," Daisy said. The nanny left and shut the door behind, leaving Daisy inside.  
  
"Hi, um, I'm Daisy," she said, sitting down on the empty bed and feeling extremely awkward. Nellie didn't seem to perceive Daisy's discomfort though, because she bounded along relentlessly.  
  
"Hi. Nellie!" she squeaked, "I'm so glad to see you. They haven't let me see anyone in ages. Not that I'm contagious anymore, of course. It's just I need my rest, but I guess they ran out of beds so tonight we're rooming together. Oh yes, I didn't tell you. I had measles really bad, but I guess you knew that, as Miss Hannah kindly told you already when she thought I wasn't listening. I hate it when grown ups do that. You know, talk like you're not there. 'She's so bitty, it almost killed her,'" Nellie mimicked. She had said all of this very fast, and Daisy paused before she got the bit of humor at the end, and then shared a laugh with Nellie.  
  
"You're not that small, there was a kid my sixth form shorter than you," Daisy assured, perhaps exaggerating.  
  
"Really?" Nellie asked grinning, and catching her breath in pausing to do so.  
  
"Yup," Daisy replied. "And I'm not exactly in the clouds either. We'll grow."  
  
"Do you like my board? I guess its half yours now, if you're staying here," Nellie said gesturing to the blackboard on the wall to her right. "All the kids have them. It's wicked!"  
  
"Wicked!" Daisy replied.  
  
"So, how'd you end up here?" Nellie asked curiously. "I've been here forever, as long as I can remember, they can't "locate" my parents."  
  
"Oh, sorry." Daisy said with a sympathetic smile. "Mine were, um, they died."  
  
"Oh gosh," Nellie said guiltily. "That was a stupid thing to ask. I'm sorry."  
  
"It's okay," Daisy assured. There was a long pause.  
  
"Well, I'm supposed to be resting. That dresser is yours," Nellie directed, pointing to a small green dresser. "I guess you can put your stuff in it."  
  
"Alright," agreed Daisy. "I'll just let you rest now."  
  
"Okay," replied Nellie lying down and rolling on her side facing her board and away from Daisy.  
  
Daisy checked the clock on the wall, 7:30. She decided to get her stuff and get settled. She got up, snuck out of the room, and walked down the hall to the main office where her bags should be.  
  
Right before turning the last corner to the office, Daisy heard her name mentioned.  
  
"Do you think this new one, Daisy, I think, will find a home as quickly as you've implied?" said a woman's voice that Daisy didn't recognize.  
  
"No, probably not. There just aren't enough foster homes these days, and not many people are willing to take a strange teenager into their home. She'll be spending a lot of time here, most likely," said Ms. Varnin's voice.  
  
"Oh, great," Daisy thought dispiritedly. It wasn't that the people didn't seem friendly, but the place didn't seem very homey. Probably no place would ever be the same kind of home to her. She walked into the door to a surprised Ms. Varnin and another nanny.  
  
"I'm just here to get my bags," she said as if she hadn't heard anything.  
  
"Oh, of course Daisy," said Ms. Varnin. "I'll help you."  
  
When they got back to Room Two with Daisy's three bags, they opened the door quietly. Nellie's breathing was steady, so she was actually sleeping. Ms. Varnin set down one of Daisy's bags.  
  
"Lights out is at nine, breakfast is served at seven forty-five, but morning recess starts at seven. Lunch is at noon, dinner is at 6:15. Bathrooms are down the hall to your left, you are allowed one shower every other day, and required to shower at least twice a week. There aren't any lessons during the summer holiday, but they will start in September. Do you have any questions?"  
  
"No," Daisy replied.  
  
"Good, then I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight," and with that Ms. Varnin turned and strode down the hall.  
  
Daisy's three bags contained everything she had decided to keep from her house. Ms. Varnin said that her house would be sold, her parents things would be put in storage, and that Daisy would get a large sum of money when she was eighteen.  
  
One of Daisy's bags was a large gray suitcase. It held her clothes and her lucky blue blanket. She emptied the clothes into the first two dresser drawers and spread her blanket on the bed. Her next bag was a green denim duffel bag. It held her school things, toiletries, makeup, hair accessories, soccer equipment, and other things she didn't want to part with. She assigned the remaining drawers to those things. Her smallest bag was her backpack; it contained Daisy's most important things. The scrapbook that Sirius had given to her was shoved in there too, as Daisy hadn't gotten a chance to look at it any further. She felt exhausted though, and just wanted to sleep. Checking to see that Nellie was still sleeping, Daisy changed into her pajamas, switched off the light, and crawled into bed.  
  
Daisy woke up suddenly that night. In the dim light, she could see the clock on the wall. It was 1:37 AM. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, something told her she wouldn't be going back to sleep very soon. Nellie was snoring, but Daisy heard no activity from the kids in other rooms.  
She realized why she had woken so abruptly. She'd had The Dream again. The Dream was of a baby boy. Messy back hair sprouted from the top of his head and his eyes were sparkling green. It was an obscure thought, but Daisy always thought that his eyes were strikingly similar to her own unique green eyes. The baby also had a strange cut, a jagged slash on his forehead. He looked scared and he would scream and scream and never stop. Daisy always woke up feeling shaken and confused. She'd had this dream for all of her life. Her parents told her forget about it, so Daisy learned to hide The Dream from them, though it still came to her often. It did occur less as she got older. In fact, the last time she had had it was the night of the accident.  
Daisy got up from her bed and switched on the lamp beside it. She went to her dresser, pulled her ginger hair into a loose bun, and looked into the mirror. She was small for her age, a round 5 feet, and had always been a bit self conscious about it.  
In the past, she had only one friend, Lavender Brown. Lavender was from the East side. Daisy thought she was terrific, but the other kids looked down on her and Daisy by association, because they were prejudice to Creepies, as those from the East side were called.  
Lavender didn't care or even try to fit in. She was mysterious, never making any sense and speaking in gibberish. She was constantly in trouble. But three years ago, Lavender went to boarding school and never looked back, even to Daisy. When she came home for summer holiday, she was distant and didn't try to get in touch with Daisy. After a year in school without Lavender, Daisy had no friends. Cliques had been formed, and no one wanted anything to do with the Creepie's friend. Daisy never felt like she belonged.  
Daisy's mind wandered back to the mirror and she admired her green eyes. Once again, she had forgotten about her contacts and left them in while sleeping, resulting in uncomfortable dryness. Daisy began wearing glasses at nine when in the third form. Adults regularly commented that glasses made her look intelligent, but they hid her pretty eyes. Daisy hated them from the start and begged her parents for contacts. Finally, the summer before she started Upper School, her parents caved and let her get them. Daisy was so excited she called Lavender just to tell someone, but when Mrs. Brown answered the phone, she heard a voice in the background.  
"Tell her I'm not home." Daisy hung up when she heard that, a heavy damper on her spirit.  
Not everyone ignored her though. She was smart, and all her teachers liked her. She was great with logic, story problems, and she had a good memory, too. History was her favorite subject.  
Daisy noticed her shoes on the floor. They were high-tops, glittered green to match her eyes. She had found them in a birthday package in her parents' closet when she came home from the hospital after the accident. There had been a card on it, she thought vaguely.  
She grabbed her backpack and dumped its contents on the bed. She rifted through it momentarily before picking out the card. It said, "To our wonderful little girl with glittering eyes on her fifteenth birthday. Lots of love, Mum & Dad." Daisy's birthday wasn't for another week or so, but her parents had always prepared extremely early for things like birthdays.  
There was also a picture on the bed showing her parents with her in the park when she was three or four. She was seated on her father's shoulders and her mother was looking at them happily. On the back of the photo, someone had scrawled: "John, Lizzy, and Daisy. June 27, 1984."  
Daisy's soccer team picture lay on the bed as well. She had started soccer when she was four years old and played for the Godric Gargoyles ever since, always number 35. She played forward and had the league record for goals scored of the younger girls' teams. But when she was thirteen, she had to try out for the team. She made it, but Courtney Jackson's dad was coach. Courtney Jackson was the nastiest and most popular girl in Daisy's form. She and her family were notorious for being unforgiving to residents of the East side and their associates. So Daisy sat on the bench most of the summer while Courtney and her friends played a 2-12 season.  
Playing soccer was the only thing that allowed Daisy to let go and forget about being lonely. The short time she had spent on the field that summer and all the summers before were what she lived for. It all seemed trivial now, her current situation withstanding, but she couldn't help wondering if there would be a place for her on a soccer team wherever she ended up. Would she make any friends, or would history repeat itself?  
A note from her crush, Chase Madison, lay on her pillow. Daisy had liked Chase since she was nine years old. He was the vision of cool and had never been outwardly mean to Daisy, unlike some of his friends. It was sad to think she'd never see him again. At the end of ninth form, he'd passed her a note during History, probably the only History class where she wasn't paying attention.  
  
Hey, how's it going? Are you coming to my party Friday? It's at seven.  
  
She went, of course, and it was a blast. Chase even asked her to dance. "Finally," she thought, "I'm a normal teenager with friends, and maybe a boyfriend!" When her parents picked her up she was delighted, but the next thing she knew was waking up in the hospital. The car had been hit, and her parents were dead. Misery.  
Daisy felt tears streaming down her cheeks. She had never felt so alone as she did now, even at the funeral. Everyone she'd ever cared about was gone. She knew she didn't want the rest of her life to be this way.  
She remembered something her mother had once told her. If life isn't how you want it to be, then change it.  
When Daisy asked how to do that, her mother replied: Write down exactly what you want, like a letter to no one, and then do what you can to get it.  
Daisy found a pen and notebook. She sat down on her bed and wrote:  
  
Dear No One,  
  
How has life been for you? Mine has been absolutely dreadful  
lately, thanks. My parents died and it looks like I'm going to be  
stuck in an orphanage for a while. I must say that I don't like the  
way things are going. I think I need a new life. What do you think?  
Well, I'll work up to that, but right now I'm afraid I need some  
rest as it's 2 o'clock in the morning.  
  
Sincerely,  
Daisy Peterson  
  
Daisy signed her letter with sardonic flare and ripped the page from her notebook. She folded the sheet of paper into a paper airplane and went to the window. It opened easily, and Daisy noticed there was no screen. Cheap, she thought. All the easier for her.  
She pitched the paper out the window and watched it catch in the breeze and float away. Feeling better already, Daisy went back to her bed.  
As she sat down, she felt something beneath her. She jumped up and looked to see what it was. It was the scrapbook from Sirius. She opened it up again, and gasped. The pictures were moving. And there was her locket mother and the baby boy from The Dream, sitting with a baby Daisy, smiling and waving.  
She shut the book quickly, knowing it couldn't be real. She threw it on the floor angrily. Moving pictures were foolish; this all must be a dream. She shoved the rest of her belongings back into the dresser and climbed back into bed. She switched off the light again, huffily. The thought of the pictures moving made her mad, but she didn't know why. Probably because I'm tired, she thought. No, no, probably because I'm dreaming.  
  
Daisy awoke to the sound of Nellie.  
"Daisy, Daisy! Wake up," she yelled. Daisy stirred groggily.  
"This is wicked," Nellie said. "What is this? Where'd you get it?"  
Daisy's eyes cracked open. Nellie was peering at the waving figures in the photos of Daisy's scrapbook.  
"Hey!" Daisy said angrily. "That's mine. Why'd you take it?"  
"You just left it there on the floor," Nellie countered.  
"That doesn't mean you can just take my stuff," Daisy snapped. Well, this ruled out the dream theory.  
"Yeah, yeah," Nellie said devilishly. "You live at Grandrose now. Nothing is sacred. Now, where did you get this anyway?"  
"This guy gave it to me yesterday," Daisy said, still peeved.  
"Are these, like, computer chip pictures?" Nellie asked enthusiastically.  
"Er," Daisy said. "Something like that," she lied, hoping she was right.  
"We've got to show the other kids!" Nellie exclaimed.  
"But," Daisy said, looking for an excuse not to, "don't you have to stay in bed?"  
"Oh, who cares about that? This is sooo cool," Nellie argued, and hopped out of bed.  
"But, but, this is really weird. I think those are pictures of my real mum. And you really shouldn't go, Hannah will get mad."  
"I can deal with Hannah, she's a softie," Nellie said. She was pulling on an oversized sweatshirt. "Go on, get dressed. The other kids will be outside in the courtyard until breakfast. We've got fifteen minutes, let's hurry." She waited as Daisy pulled jeans and a T-shirt over her pajamas, then grabbed her and pulled her out the door, carrying the scrapbook in her free hand.  
They walked down the long portrait laden hallway in nervous silence. To get outside they had to pass by the office. It had two windows in front of the desk on the hall towards the outside door. Daisy and Nellie came to the corner before the office and peeked around. Hannah was sitting at the desk. Daisy looked at Nellie in an I-told-you-so way.  
"Listen," said Nellie, taking control. "You're gonna go talk to her, pretend you're alone. I'm just gonna crawl right below her eyesight."  
"Okay," Daisy said skeptically, "I'll try." She strode out from the corner into Hannah's view and went through the door to the office.  
"Hallo there, Daisy. It's nice to see you up early," she said  
"Thanks. How are you?" Daisy asked.  
"Oh, same as always, a little stiff, but overall fine," she replied. "Have you seen Nellie today?"  
"Ah," Daisy mumbled, not sure what to say. She glanced at the floor to see Nellie crawling along, "yes."  
"Well, you can go outside and play with the other children if you want to," she said, gesturing to the small door. "Breakfast is in about twelve minutes,"  
"Thanks," Daisy said again, and went to the door, opening it for Nellie and herself.  
Outside there was a small courtyard surrounded by a brick wall about four feet tall on two sides and the building on the other two sides. The ground was covered in grass, with a large elm tree in the center. Nellie rose from her knees. She was squinting and blinking wildly. Her eyes obviously hadn't seen sunlight for weeks.  
"Yes!" she cheered.  
A group of kids, most considerably younger than Daisy, were gathered around the tree. The others were all wearing T-shirts and shorts, so Nellie looked a little out of place. Daisy noticed as they walked up to the mob that all the children were looking and pointing upward at the tree.  
"Hey, Nellie," said a boy who looked about ten. "Did Miss Hannah let you out, finally?"  
"No," Nellie said, giggling.  
"Nice," he said, impressed. "Look, do you see that owl? It's got something. We can't get it to come down, though."  
Some of the smaller children were calling, "Here, Birdie. Come on!"  
Daisy looked up at the tree and spotted the brown owl sitting on a branch. Suddenly it took off and flew right at her.  
"Cool!" said one of the boys.  
"Wicked!" said another.  
"What's it got?" asked a little girl.  
"It's a letter," replied Daisy, as the owl dropped a parchment envelope at her feet and settled on her shoulder.  
  
A/N: Lots of good background and such. Isn't Nellie obnoxious! Well, you'll just have to read to see what happens next. Please Review. 


	4. The Owl

Gee, I wonder where the letter is from.  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Three: The Owl  
  
Daisy yelped, and tried to shake the strange, large bird off her. She had never seen an owl, except at the zoo, with a glass pane separating them. The disgruntled owl flew up and perched on the wall.  
She turned her attention to the letter. She picked it up and studied it carefully. The envelope seemed to be made of yellowish parchment. Its green wax seal had an extravagant "H" on it. The H was surrounded by a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake. It was addressed to:  
  
Ms. D. Peterson Courtyard with large tree Grandrose Academy Social Services of England, London, Main Office  
  
Thinking it might be a trick from the other kids, Daisy opened the envelope carefully and pulled out a letter. It was printed on the same yellow parchment as the envelope. The words were inscribed in green ink. It said:  
  
HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY  
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)  
  
Dear Miss Peterson,  
We are truly sorry we haven't detected your magical blood  
before this time. Though your powers are weak, you have been  
accepted to develop them here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and  
Wizardry. You have the opportunity now, to take a Quikspell course  
and basic lessons to catch up to your peers. Please meet Professor  
McKinnen in the Leaky Cauldron (between the Paperback Exchange and  
Colin's Family Records) in London this Friday, July 31st at Two  
o'clock, if your decision is to come for a more thorough  
explanation. Welcome to the magical world!  
  
Yours Sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
Minerva McGonagall,  
Deputy Headmistress  
  
P.S. You may keep the owl.  
  
"This can't be right," Daisy breathed.  
"What? What?" Nellie whined, as she strained to get a look at the letter. Daisy remembered Sirius Black's moving pictures with her locket mother. Maybe there was a connection. Maybe this magical world was real! Maybe this letter and the pictures were proof.  
But. Daisy looked at Nellie, and all around her. How could there be magic, like the letter said? She was normal, everything was normal. If there was magic, wouldn't she still have her parents?  
"C'mon," Daisy said to Nellie, and headed to Room Two. Nellie followed her, still holding the forgotten scrapbook.  
  
When they reached their destination, through similar methods of Hannah distraction, Nellie snatched the letter out of Daisy's hand and read it through momentarily.  
"Ooh!" she squealed, "That's tomorrow!"  
"Huh?" Daisy asked. "What's tomorrow?"  
"The 31st, that's when you're supposed to be there," Nellie replied excitedly.  
"The 31st is tomorrow? That's my birthday," Daisy said, distracted from the subject. She must have lost track of the days. She didn't realize she'd be fifteen tomorrow.  
"Well, you'll be making a birthday escape then!" Nellie said, a little too enthusiastically.  
"I never said anything about escaping. Besides, we don't even know if this is real or not," Daisy said.  
"But you have to. What could it hurt?" Nellie insisted. Her eyes were a picture of fiery youthful passion, believing with all her heart that this magic was real, and immensely excited about being a part of it all.  
"I would be running away, and then when I get caught, no one will ever trust me, and I'll be here until I'm 18."  
"We're here that long, anyway," Nellie said, looking hurt. "Either here or some other home."  
That's probably true, Daisy thought. She couldn't ignore Sirius's pictures, either. Maybe magic was real; maybe she was only normal because she didn't take chances like this.  
"If it's going to be like that, I might as well try," Daisy said.  
Nellie's face broke into a mammoth grin.  
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Nellie ducked under the covers of her bed just in time. Hannah walked into the room carrying a tray of food for Nellie's breakfast.  
"Good morning, Nellie," she said.  
"Oh, Good Morning Miss Hannah," Nellie answered, mock sleepily.  
"Some breakfast for ya, Honey."  
"Thank you, Miss Hannah," Nellie said, sitting up.  
"Why're ya all dressed?" Hannah asked, suspiciously.  
"I, um, got cold in the night," Nellie said, trying to sound innocent.  
"Oh, dear! How are ya feelin' now?" Hannah said gently.  
"A lot better, famished though."  
"Well here ya are, eat up," Hannah said, setting the tray on her lap. "And Daisy, breakfast is served for you too, in the cafeteria."  
Daisy hadn't eaten since yesterday at breakfast, but with everything she hadn't been hungry, and she was too excited to eat now, anyway.  
"Maybe later," she said. "I think I'll stay and keep Nellie company."  
"'ow kind of ya," Hannah said. "I'll see you both later."  
"Bye Miss Hannah"  
"Bye." Hannah walked through the door, shutting it behind her.  
"That was close," Nellie trembled. "Now back to business. You'll have to leave at night, after Ms. Varnin has left and Miss Hannah and the other nannies have gone to bed. Do you think you could climb that wall in the courtyard?"  
  
By 11:00 everything was ready. Nellie had pretended to fall asleep hours ago, but after Hannah left her alone she helped Daisy pack her things up again and get ready for action. After Nellie gave Daisy thorough directions to get to the Paperback Exchange (She had never heard of the Leaky Cauldron) she helped Daisy through the window into the courtyard, and said goodbye.  
"Good luck," Nellie said, closing the window. Daisy looked around the dark courtyard. The tree cast creepy shadows over the grass. The wall looked taller and cagey. It was quite unsettling. Daisy shook herself and moved towards the wall. She dropped her bags over, and began climbing when she heard a voice.  
"I think you're forgetting someone, Daisy," it said. Daisy spun around looking for the person who had spoken. She saw nothing but the tree and an owl sitting in its branches. She wondered if it was the same owl from the morning.  
"Who are you?" asked Daisy, suspiciously. If she was caught now, she would be in a lot of trouble for nothing.  
"Who?" asked the voice.  
"Yeah, who are you?" Daisy insisted.  
"Who, who? Who, who?" it said, over and over. Daisy was creeped out. Whoever it was, the seemed to be teasing her.  
"Tell me who you are, or I'll wake Hannah, and tell her someone's sneaking around the kids," Daisy said, trying to be brave. She searched the yard again. Still no one was there, that Daisy she could see. The owl flew off the branch, and landed on the wall near her.  
"Who, who am I?" asked the voice. It sounded much closer to her now. She back away from the spot. "Hibou," the voice said simply. The voice was male, Daisy determined.  
"Come out then, Hibou," Daisy demanded.  
"But I am out. Right in front of your eyes," Hibou said calmly. Daisy saw only the brown owl. The owl! If magic was real, then why couldn't owls talk?  
"You?" Daisy said, pointing directly at the owl.  
"Yes, of course," he said.  
"How is this possible?" Daisy asked, though she wasn't as shocked as she'd normally be. A lot of strange things had happened to her lately.  
"You were raised by Muggles, right?" Hibou inquired.  
"Muggles?" Daisy repeated, confused.  
"People with no magic. They don't know about our kind. You do know about magic? You read the letter?"  
"Yes, I know about magic, but how did you learn to talk like people?"  
"Well," Hibou began, "it's a spell. The Ministry developed it only a few years ago, so it's hush-hush, okay? It unlocks the communication part of an animal's brain to the level of a human. When people talk, I can process and understand the meanings of the words. When I think of saying a word, it comes out of my mouth."  
"How does the spell work?" Daisy asked, captivated.  
"It starts with an egg; they wash it with a potion. Then exactly 3 minutes and 27 seconds after it has been taken out of the cauldron, you say the animans confabulor spell," Hibou said, expertly.  
"Wow," Daisy commented.  
He continued, "It took years and years for Wimple and the Committee of Experimental Charms to come up with this spell. I was one of the first successful experiments," Hibou finished proudly.  
"That's really neat," Daisy said slowly. Another thought popped into her mind. "Why did they want talking animals in the first place?"  
"Company, spies. Verbal animals could be very useful to both good and evil sorcery."  
"Why are you here, Hibou? What do you want with me? How do I know what side you're on?" Daisy asked, suspicious again.  
"Well, I'm your." he paused, looking for the right word, ".pet," he said a little bitterly. "Didn't you read the letter? McGonagall said you could keep me, I'm from Hogwarts."  
"Oh, is that what it meant?"  
"Yes. Well, now you know all about me and the spell."  
"Could I do a spell, too?" Daisy asked, warming up to the bird again.  
  
"It's a little more complicated than saying a few gibberish words. You need a wand for one, and there are specific things you need to say, you need very powerful magic for some spells. Oh, and potions. Sometimes you'll need a potion."  
"I get a wand?!" Daisy exclaimed.  
"Oh yes," the bird replied. "Keep your voice down. We don't want anyone to hear us. We go to great pains to keep the Muggles away from the truth. If they heard me talking, the Ministry would have to put a memory charm on them."  
"What's the Ministry?"  
"The Ministry of Magic is sort of like a government for wizards. They mainly make sure Muggles don't find out about us," Hibou answered.  
"I don't understand," Daisy said. "Why wouldn't they want Muggles to know?"  
"Muggles would want us to help them, and heal them, fix all their problems. They outnumber us greatly; it would be a huge mess. And you know some Muggles fear magic. It goes against everything they believe, sometimes even religion. They used to hunt us down and kill us," Hibou said darkly. "No, it's best we just leave them alone."  
Something clicked in Daisy mind. She probably knew witches and wizards in her own town. Lavender was a witch. They were the Creepies. Daisy herself was a Creepie. Muggles were as strange to them as Creepies were to the Muggles.  
"We better go before someone notices you're gone," Hibou suggested.  
"Sure," Daisy agreed. "No more talking then, okay?"  
"Agreed."  
Daisy climbed over the wall as Hibou took off. They stayed in London's shadows as they headed toward The Paperback Exchange, and hopefully the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
A/N: Goodbye, Muggles! Review, as always. I'll put up more tomorrow, as long as some people like the story. See ya! 


	5. A New Life

Hello Again! I'm hoping more than just one person read this, cause that's my only current review. Thanks, inu-yasha4ever89! I didn't mean to call the readers muggles. I just meant it as Daisy was saying goodbye to the muggles. So sorry if I offended anyone. Read on:  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Four: A New Life  
  
Daisy had been to London before, but she'd forgotten how many twisted corners and alleys there were. She wasn't totally lost, but the trip was taking her longer than she thought it would. After a while, a deep sleepiness came over her. It was as if she was trapped in a dream trance, just wandering. But finally, she saw a sign that glowed slightly in red lettering. Paperback Exchange it said.  
"Yes," she breathed, and then whispered, "Hibou, we're here!"  
"Good," he replied. They trudged/flew up to the bookstore. Standing next to it was The Leaky Cauldron, a small pub in serious disrepair. Daisy was too tired to notice that it nearly slipped out of sight when she looked past it. She plodded up the stairs and tried the door. It was locked.  
"Try the knocker," Hibou suggested. Daisy grasped the large bronze door knocker and clinked it against its metal platform three times.  
After a few moments of empty silence, the door sprung open. An old man, looking slightly crazed, pointed a stick of polished wood at Daisy's nose. She stepped back in alarm, her eyes beginning to well with tears of weariness and fear.  
The man's aggressive eyes began to soften, and his mouth filled with gaps turned up into an apologetic smile.  
"Oh, excuse me, young lady," he said, lowering his stick. "So sorry to have upset you. Come, come in."  
Daisy would have resisted if she was fully awake, but she followed his beckon, Hibou following behind. Inside it was dark and shabby looking. She immediately felt her mind get a little clearer; she was still tired, but not nearly as much as she had been only moments before. The man pushed the door behind them.  
"Me name's Tom, landlord here at The Leaky Cauldron. Forgive me for frightening you. Times have changed. You shouldn't be out in the night like this all alone. Now um, who may you be? If you don't mind telling me."  
"Daisy," she said quietly.  
"Oh!" Tom exclaimed, things clicking in his mind. "Of course, Professor McKinnen told me you'd be coming; I just wasn't expecting you, at this time of night. Come, I'll show you and your owl to a room."  
"Thank you," Daisy said. The next thing she knew she was pouring herself into a warm bed.  
  
Daisy's eyes flickered open. The room was flooded with light, but Daisy's mind was fresh with the dark vision of The Dream. She sat up, letting things adjust in her head, remembering where she was. The fizzing memory of wandering last night returned.  
"Daisy!" Hibou exclaimed. "You're awake. I thought you'd sleep all day. I was getting worried."  
"Why?"  
"It was a spell!" he sputtered.  
"What was?" Daisy asked groggily.  
"Your sleepiness. I tried to tell you, but you couldn't understand."  
"Who did a spell on me?" demanded Daisy, alarmed.  
"I, I'm not sure," Hibou said uneasily. "I could feel it everywhere, but it wasn't affecting me. It was designed to affect witches and wizards, to make them fall into a deep sleep. I'm not sure how you escaped it, but that's not what I'm worried about.  
"The kind of magic that it would take to allow the spell to spread so far and just to certain people, it would be powerful, powerful and dangerous, not the work of the Ministry. We need to tell someone right away, and we must be careful," Hibou said. He seemed near panic.  
"Well, I'll tell the Professor," she agreed readily. "What time is it anyway?"  
"Quarter to two. You should start getting ready."  
Daisy hopped out of bed. She wasn't picky about punctuality, but she wanted to make an impression on the professor. She scrambled around getting ready and properly dressed, but only after an awkward "Look away will you," to Hibou.  
She glanced in the mirror before leaving. "Comb your hair, dear. It's sticking up in the back."  
"Thanks," Daisy said slowly, doing a double take. She patted down her hair and rushed out of the room, hurrying Hibou along.  
When she arrived in the pub, Tom was waiting for her.  
"Let me take you to the alley," he said. Daisy nodded in gratitude and sped up to show her urgency. Tom led them through a back door. A small clearing with what seemed to be a crumbling wall appeared. Tom tapped on the third brick to the left. It disappeared. Then the bricks around it vanished as well. The bricks continued to fade away until there was an arch large enough for a small elephant to pass through. Daisy stepped forward, but Tom stood back.  
"I must leave you here now and tend to the bar. Bye now Daisy."  
Before Daisy could thank him, the archway minimized back to a solid brick wall. Shrugging she turned and took in the sights of Diagon Alley. The bright sunlight made Daisy squint, but she could see the cobblestone street zigzag into the horizon. Smells strange and wonderful wafted through the air, sweet treats and damp moss among them. People dressed in strange clothes that looked like choir robes chatted and laughed. Bizarre animal calls were also clear.  
Daisy walked slowly along, lingering to read the names of the strange shops: Eeylop's Owl Emporium, Gringott's, Flourish and Blott's. She finally came to rest at a table in an outdoor café: Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.  
"I guess I should just wait around for her here," Daisy said. She was eyeing the menu of exotic flavors of ice cream. Hibou gave her an owly glare. Daisy remembered that his communication abilities were still secret.  
Daisy lowered her voice and whispered, "I don't see the professor anywhere."  
"Looking for someone?" asked a voice behind Daisy. She gasped and spun around. She saw a woman in olive green colored robes, and though it was quite hot out, an emerald cloak. She was young and very pretty. She had shoulder length puffy blond hair and ivory skin. A mischievous smile rested on her lips.  
"Hello Daisy," she said. "My name is Professor McKinnon, but you may call me Maggie for now. I trust you got your letter?"  
"Yes," Daisy said, slightly surprised. She had been expecting a dusty old man to be meeting her, not a pretty, young woman. She supposed it was because she'd always imagined professors as, well, old men. The educators at her school had always been called teachers. She became a shade more comfortable now that she might identify with someone at the school better.  
  
"Prof-, I mean, Maggie," Daisy said anxiously, "I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here."  
"Daisy, we've learned of your, er, situation," Maggie said. "I'm here on behalf of Dumbledore and Hogwarts to offer you a solution. Going to school at Hogwarts will mean hard work, but it will give you a home among friends until the age of seventeen. We will loan you the money for what you will need until then. Do you think you're interested?"  
"Yes!" Daisy exclaimed, "of course. When do we leave?"  
Maggie laughed warmly, "Not until September, but I'm glad it appeals to you."  
Daisy smiled broadly. For the first time since that fateful night two months ago, Daisy saw her future clearly. She was finally in control again.  
"This is the best birthday I've ever had!" she said zealously.  
"It's your birthday today?" Maggie asked.  
"Yeah," Daisy said, trying to see whether she felt any older than yesterday.  
"Well I don't have a gift, but," Maggie rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out a large gold coin. "Here. You should have some pocket money anyway."  
Daisy usually would have refused money from someone she hardly knew but she was too intrigued by the strange currency to give it back.  
"What is it?" Daisy asked, and then added "Er, thank you."  
"Don't mention it. It's a gold galleon, some the money we use in the wizarding world. Seventeen silver sickles to a galleon, and twenty-nine bronze knuts in a sickle."  
Daisy studied the odd coin some more and a lull appeared in the conversation.  
"Must send a letter to Dumbledore," Maggie said thoughtfully. She was scrawling a message on a bit of paper. Hibou settled on Maggie's wrist and she began to tie the paper to his leg. She stroked his feathers, then he nipped her fingers affectionately and took off.  
"Do you know each other then?" Daisy asked, puzzled.  
"Yeah, I raised him from an egg when I was at the Ministry," Maggie said.  
"You were with the Ministry of Magic?" Daisy asked, further bewildered.  
"I s'pose I still am. Dumbledore needed someone to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. I think he wanted another auror."  
"I'm sorry I'm so out of this magic loop, I don't know anything," Daisy said, looking at the ground and wondering what an auror could be.  
"Don't worry about it," Maggie said cheeringly. "Many students come from non magic families and have to start fresh just like you."  
Daisy's spirit lightened again as she asked, "So what do I need? Pencils, notebooks?"  
"What's a pinsile?" asked Maggie, the confused one this time.  
Daisy looked at her as if she was a bit mad. "You know, to write with," Daisy said, making a writing motion in the air.  
"Oh yes, I've heard of those," Maggie said as if it were quite an accomplishment to know of pencils. "We use quills, Daisy. Quills and parchment. Let's see, what else do you need?" She pulled a list from her robes. "Uniform, cauldron, telescope, and a wand, of course. Shall we get going? I've heard there are great sales this time of year."  
"Sure!" Daisy said. She felt like a small kid in a toy store.  
"I need to stop at Flourish and Blott's quickly, if you don't mind."  
"Not at all," Daisy said. The more magic she saw the better. They reached the store a moment later. The window had displays of large books filled with incantations. When they entered, they were greeted by a middle aged man.  
"May I help you?" he said. He seemed quite lively now, but there were deep stress marks in his face.  
"Yes," Maggie said politely. "I need some books on Defense Against the Dark Arts, and two from the Everything You Should Know series. The Original and Hogwarts editions."  
"Yes, yes. Very helpful to Muggle borns," he said eyeing Daisy. "Miss Johnson?" he called. A tall black girl, who looked to be a few years older than Daisy, appeared at the man's side.  
"Yes, Mr. Oakley?" she asked.  
"Please show this fine woman to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section."  
"Sure will, right this way, Ma'am," said the girl. Maggie winked at Daisy and followed Miss Johnson.  
"And your books are right over here, Miss," said Mr. Oakley. He heaved two enormous books into Daisy's arms. She nearly dropped to the ground with them, and even considering the size she was, that was saying something. She winced as she read the cover of the top book. Everything a Witch or Wizard Should Know but Doesn't by Gwen Enoch.  
"Help," Daisy grimaced. Immediately Mr. Oakley took the stack of books back and began to apologize. He hauled the books up to the front desk for payment. He leaned against the desk, panting. A moment later Maggie reappeared along with Miss Johnson, whose face was blocked by a tower of about twelve books.  
Daisy was worried they wouldn't be able to carry the lot of them until Maggie pulled out her almond colored wand and pointed it at the stack of books.  
"Agilis!" she said. Then she picked up one of the Everything books and tossed it like a pizza. "Excellent!" She turned back to Mr. Oakley behind the desk, but instead she saw a very old witch. Her nametag said: Betsy Blotts.  
"Betsy!" cried Maggie.  
"Maggie, dear!" croaked the witch happily, "it's been so long since I've seen you last. What are you up to these days?"  
"I'm about to start a job at Hogwarts!" she said, her pride apparent in her face.  
"Oh, little Maggie," cried the witch, "all grown up and teaching at Hogwarts!" Her eyes began to water.  
"What? What's all this?" asked a gruff voice from the back room. A moment later a man with a grubby beard, seeming to be about the same age as Betsy, emerged. He was also wearing a nametag. It bore: Floyd Flourish.  
"Floyd, it's Maggie!" explained Betsy. By now, Daisy was baffled.  
"Ah, so it is," said Floyd, squinting through small spectacles. "And how is she?"  
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" Maggie said courteously.  
"And still so polite!" Floyd said, delighted, to Betsy.  
"Who is this little lady?" he asked, noticing Daisy. She was glad she'd finally been detected. She felt like she was intruding on their moment.  
"Daisy," she told him. "Daisy Peterson."  
"Is she yours then?" Betsy asked Maggie.  
"No," Maggie said abashedly. "She's a new student at Hogwarts."  
"Then she'll be needing more books," Betsy said hopefully.  
"No," Maggie said and lowered her voice. "She was accepted later than most students, so the school is providing books."  
"Oh, alright," said Betsy sounding a tad disappointed.  
"But we will take all these," Maggie said, her voice at her normal volume again.  
After they paid for the now feather light books, Miss Johnson had to take over because Betsy was still tearful over seeing Maggie, they strode back onto the crowded alley.  
"What was that about?" Daisy asked quizzically.  
"Well, Betsy and Floyd are brother and sister, and they were great friends of my parents until," Maggie paused as though she was remembering something unpleasant, "until You-Know-Who killed them. I stayed with them in the summers when I was at Hogwarts."  
Daisy was going to say something like, "No, I don't know who." But it didn't seem to be the kindest response. So instead, she said, "Oh," apologetically.  
"Yes, well, what else do we need?" Maggie asked, digging in her robe pocket for the list again. Not looking, she ran straight into the man in front of her and dropped her books all over the road.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Maggie cried, leaning to pick up her books.  
"That's alright. Let me help you," said the curly brown haired man, leaning over. "Maggie?"  
Maggie looked at his face. "Kurt!" she cried. "I haven't seen you for ages. Daisy, this is Kurt, he was one of my best friends at school."  
Kurt held out his hand to shake. Daisy took it. "Nice to meet you, Daisy. And it's good to see you again, Maggie. I have to run, though. How long are you in Diagon Alley?"  
"Until September," Maggie replied.  
"Excellent," Kurt said. "Maybe I'll see you?"  
"I hope so," Maggie said. "Goodbye."  
Kurt handed Maggie the pile of books he had. "Goodbye." He walked down the road in a hurry.  
"Wow, next I'll see teachers from Hogwarts, too," Maggie said. "What a day!"  
They stopped at various other shops on the road for the rest of Daisy's things. They bought a pewter cauldron, loads of parchment, quills, and ink, horrid smelling potion ingredients, a telescope, and brass scales.  
When they stopped in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, a squat Madam Malkin dressed in flowing navy robes welcomed them in.  
"Hogwarts, dear?" she asked Daisy.  
"Yes," Daisy said, not sure what to expect.  
Madam Malkin led them to the back of the store and motioned for Daisy to stand on a wooden stool. She stepped onto it, and Madam Malkin pulled a tape measure out of her pocket. She tapped it with her wand and it began to measure Daisy all on its own.  
Daisy tried to stay still, but it was odd to be measured by an inanimate object. When it was through, Madam Malkin stepped onto a stool beside Daisy and put a black robe over her head.  
She started to pin it to the right length when Maggie said, "She'll need dress robes as well."  
Madam Malkin finished and looked up, her face bright. "Excellent!" she said. "What color do you prefer?" she asked Daisy.  
"Er." Daisy said. She wasn't even sure what dress robes were, and probably wasn't the most qualified to pick a color for them.  
"How about yellow?" voiced Madam Malkin, noticing Daisy's stress.  
"Okay," Daisy said. She didn't wear yellow very often, but not for any particular reason.  
It turned out that yellow was a fine color for Daisy, and dress robes were just like the choir robes everyone seemed to be wearing, but fancier.  
When they finally left the store, Maggie said, "Now your wand."  
The next shop they stopped at was Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. Apart from a small bell that rang as they entered the dark store, there was no greeting as there had been at the other shops. They were all alone.  
Silence lay thick as dust in the air. Long boxes rested in piles stacked all the way up to the ceiling. The only apparent furniture in the room was an old wooden chair in which Maggie seated herself.  
The calm was broken when an old man with round shining eyes appeared in front of a startled Daisy.  
"Good afternoon," he said softly.  
"Hello, Mr. Ollivander?" Daisy guessed.  
"Indeed. You are in need of a wand, Miss...?"  
"Daisy Peterson," she said, sticking out her hand automatically. Right away she wished she hadn't. Mr. Ollivander stepped closer and his huge eyes shone silver into her face. They had an unnerving effect. He grasped her hand and bobbed it up and down twice.  
Letting go, he said, "Hold out your wand arm, please." Daisy stuck out her right arm and once again, a roll of self-moving measuring tape began to evaluate her.  
Mr. Ollivander suddenly noticed Maggie. "Ah, yes I remember you. Ten and three quarter inches. Floppy. Made from American birch with a core of unicorn hair. Good for dueling."  
"It is," Maggie said, looking at him, astonished.  
"That will do," Mr. Ollivander said, and the tape dropped from the air. He selected a box from the wall and opened it. "Try this one. Fir. Nine inches long and stiff. Hair from the tail of a unicorn. Excels at curses."  
Daisy gripped the wand and held it in the air. Nothing. Mr. Ollivander took the wand back, and looked into her eyes intently.  
"Yes, yes. Hmmm.Give this one a wave," he said, offering a new box. Daisy clasped the dark brown wand. She held it up and whisked it through the air. Several gold sparks emerged from the end. Daisy's feeling of apprehension dissolved.  
"Did I do magic?" she asked, stunned.  
"Yes, Daisy, you did it!" Maggie said.  
"Curious," said Mr. Ollivander, frowning. "Mahogany and dragon heartstring. Eleven inches, pliable. A good charge of power, I'm afraid you'll need it."  
Daisy looked down at these words. Mr. Ollivander began rambling to himself. "Curious the will of a wand, no two the same, very familiar, sometimes relations, but there's no living relatives, unless."  
Mr. Ollivander stared point blank into Daisy's eyes. "Daisy, who are your parents?"  
"I was adopted. I don't know anything about my parents except that they were murdered," answered Daisy, thinking Mr. Ollivander to be quite mad.  
"I see," he said. "This is the one. It has chosen you, so use it well."  
The wand cost seven gold galleons, which Maggie pulled from a drawstring bag at her side. Mr. Ollivander showed them to the door. Daisy was glad to go.  
  
A/N: See that was really fun, huh? Isn't Maggie better than Umbridge? Oooooooh, Umbridge is so evil! Anyway, please please review. Thanks so much! 


	6. Older than Most

Nothing much else to say: just read!  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Five: Older than Most  
  
The remainder of the summer Daisy was to spend her days in Diagon Alley with Maggie to look after her. She quickly learned, after trying to fill her entire room with sparks, that using magic under the age of seventeen was not allowed. She also studied the Everything You Should Know books, but there was so much in them that it was similar to reading a set of encyclopedias. Mostly she'd look up random things, but first she looked up auror, and You-Know-Who.  
Maggie was gone on "important business" often. Daisy wasn't sure what was so important about the business because she had once seen Maggie with her friend Kurt at an outdoor restaurant in Diagon Alley. All they were doing was laughing and chatting. Daisy wasn't mad about it really. Maggie could date if she wanted to, but Daisy wished she wouldn't lie to her about it.  
To earn money, Daisy worked at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, and opened a bank account at the Wizard bank Gringotts.  
Hibou returned from delivering Maggie's note to Dumbledore a few weeks later. It was after Daisy's shift and the sun was just beginning to set. Daisy was window shopping in the skirts of the alley when Hibou flew over and hovered, stirring nervously.  
Daisy checked to see if anyone was around, and said, "Hibou! You're back. What's going on?"  
"I told Dumbledore about the sleeping spell." Daisy closed her eyes in remembrance. She had completely forgotten about it. Needless to say, she forgot to tell Maggie, too.  
"He said we weren't the only ones to feel it. It's been going on for about a month now, but only at night, and only in Muggle London, not magical areas like here. The Muggles can't feel it, but they've been finding witches and wizards asleep on the street. It takes longer to affect some than others, so that's how we think you lasted four hours. He thinks You-Know-Who is involved, but Fudge, that's the Minister of Magic, won't hear it. He says it just some natural magical catastrophe. We all know that's a load of dung, but he's at least putting out a warning for Muggle London."  
"Did you say Dumbledore thinks You-Know-Who has something to do with it?" Daisy asked anxiously. "I thought he was gone."  
"Dumbledore says he's back, but no one knows for sure, few know anything about it at all. But if what Dumbledore says is true, we'll all know soon."  
"What do you think?" Daisy asked.  
"I trust Dumbledore and he's usually right, but this time I do hope he's wrong."  
After that Daisy and Maggie kept away from Muggle London. Daisy tried not to think about You-Know-Who. She'd only heard about him, but she was forming a very personal fear, though she couldn't explain why. Maggie kept an eye out for anything suspicious, her auror instincts helped her with that, but nothing happened except wizards falling asleep in the street. And that was happening less and less as more people were avoiding Muggle London.  
Soon, it was time to leave for Hogwarts. They packed all of Daisy's things into a trunk, and on September 1st they left for King's Cross Station. Daisy had read in her Everything Hogwarts Edition that they would be getting to the school by train, the Hogwarts Express. She also read that they were supposed to walk though a wall to get to Platform Nine and Three- Quarters, but she wasn't sure how that would work.  
When they arrived between Platform Nine and Platform Ten, Daisy shot a sly look over at Maggie. They were both pushing large trunks and a disgruntled Hibou had been made to sit in a birdcage on top of Daisy's.  
"You'll have to walk through the barrier, Daisy," Maggie said. "But you have to believe that you will go through or you'll just crash into it. Maybe it would be best to go at a run." Daisy nodded and looked at the brick barrier. It looked quite solid.  
"Should I just run through?" Daisy asked, still not fully trusting the process.  
"Well make sure no one's looking, the place is swarming with Muggles. Do you want me to go first?"  
"No," Daisy said. It would be a fine thing to be stuck there all by herself if she couldn't do it. "I will. Tell me when."  
Daisy took a deep breath, and waited.  
Finally, she heard Maggie say, "Now."  
She ran, pushing the trunk out in front of her, gaining speed as she neared the bricks. Just at the second when she knew she would collide, she was through. She opened her eyes, which she had squeezed shut a moment before, and blinked up at the red train before her.  
"You better move so Maggie doesn't hit you," Hibou said, so that only Daisy could hear, and just in time because just as she moved a few feet towards the right Maggie appeared from what was now an archway.  
"See, it wasn't so hard," she said. "Let's get this stuff on the train."  
They both headed for the door and lugged their trunks up to a compartment.  
After leaning over to catch her breath Maggie said, "I have to go up to the front of the train to speak to the chief engineer. You should try to meet some of the other students."  
"Okay," Daisy said. She didn't really want to be left alone like this, but she would manage. "I guess I'll see you later."  
"Of course. Goodbye," Maggie said.  
"Bye." Maggie slid out of the compartment towards the front leaving Daisy alone with Hibou.  
"Well, will you let me out?" he said, sounding very ruffled.  
"Sure," Daisy replied, fiddling with the latch and setting him free. He stretched his wings and glided around the room.  
"Should we go meet some people?" Hibou suggested.  
"But you can't," Daisy reminded him. "I won't actually talk," Hibou said indignantly. "You do enough of that. I'll just come along."  
"Okay," Daisy agreed. They departed through the opposite door Maggie had left from. They ended up in a section filled with some kids who looked a bit rough. There were two girls that, though Daisy could tell were a few years younger than her, out-heightened her by a few inches each. Daisy was planning on just slipping past them, but a girl who was with them (she was rightfully shorter than Daisy) greeted her. "Hello," said the pale girl, with a smug twinge to her voice. "Are you a Slytherin?" Daisy had read about the four houses of Hogwarts in her Everything book: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. She also knew that to have a house she first needed to be sorted.  
"No," Daisy said coolly, pretending that she wasn't abnormally old for this situation.  
"Oh," said the girl. Her face, framed with neat silver blond hair, darkened a bit. "What house are you in?" Daisy's spirits fell; she didn't want to explain how much of a squib she was to this younger girl.  
"I haven't got one yet. I was accepted late," Daisy said, feeling  
awkward.  
"I've never heard of that," said the girl, superiorly. "Well, I'm Alana Malfoy. I just know I'm going to be in Slytherin. My whole family has been. This is Gina and Cassidy," she said gesturing at her large companions.  
"Daisy Peterson," Daisy said.  
"Hmm," said Alana, as if trying to remember something, but not coming up with anything. "I suppose you haven't met my cousin, Draco," "No," Daisy replied. She was beginning to feel very small, despite the fact that she was much older than these girls. They had obviously been brought up in wizarding families.  
"I could go get him if you want, he's probably with their brothers," she said, again gesturing at Gina and Cassidy.  
"That's fine, I'll probably see him around," Daisy replied. She really wanted to leave.  
"You're sure?" Alana asked.  
"Yes," Daisy said with a smile that she hoped gave the impression that she wanted to leave.  
"So, your parents are, you know, one of us, right?" Alana asked, obviously not getting the message.  
"What do you mean?" Daisy said uncertainly.  
"They're a witch and wizard, of course," Alana said. From the way she said it, Daisy could tell she thought it would be filthy or something if they weren't. So she considered for a moment. She wasn't sure if her real parents were magical or not.  
"Yes," Daisy guessed, because that was what the girl wanted to hear.  
"Good. Because Draco might be the kind of friend you'll want."  
"Well, I really think I should be going," Daisy said, wanting to get very far away.  
"Alright," said Alana boredly, "I guess I'll see you at the sorting."  
Relieved, Daisy and Hibou hurried through the other door. They met various people, mostly nicer than Alana, but Daisy soon grew tired of explaining her situation. After about an hour they went back to their original compartment to talk, but when they got there, they found that they were not alone.  
A small boy, maybe eleven years old, was sitting in the seat. He was all by himself. Daisy could only see the back of his head, covered in sandy hair. He suddenly turned around and noticed them.  
"Oh, hello," he said in a friendly, distinctly Scandinavian accent. "Am I in your spot?"  
"Sort of," Daisy said, "but there's room for both of us."  
"Well, I was wondering whose trunk that was," he said, laughing.  
Daisy broke into a smile. "It's mine. I'm Daisy."  
"My name's David Oakes, but everyone calls me Davey. I'm starting this  
year at Hogwarts," he said. He seemed exceedingly enthusiastic because his big blue eyes lit up every time he said something.  
"Really?" Daisy asked. She liked him very much so far, so she was trying to talk to him like an equal. She knew she always hated to be treated like a little kid when she was his age.  
"Yeah, I really hope I'm in Gryffindor. Hufflepuff wouldn't be too bad either. My mom was in Hufflepuff, but my brother and dad were in Gryffindor," Davey said. He seemed to be glad for someone to talk to. "What house are you in?" he asked, in an openly curious way. Daisy was sure he wouldn't think less of her if she told him that she was a first year, too.  
"Well, it's a funny thing," she started, "I didn't even know about Hogwarts until this summer. It seems they forgot about me. I should be in about fifth year, but they're going to try to catch me up by the end of this year. So I guess I don't have a house yet, but I think Gryffindor or Ravenclaw would be my first choices."  
"That sounds just like something Dumbledore would do, give you a second chance," Davey said. "He's a great headmaster.'  
"That's what everyone says," Daisy said, contemplating. "I think so, too." Davey smiled when he heard this. Daisy hoped he would be in the same house as her. They would have classes together, right in the beginning anyway.  
"So, where are you from?" Daisy asked, changing the subject. "I kind of recognize your accent, but..."  
"Oslo, Norway," he said proudly. "My family's in the dragon business. Control, not breeding of course. There's a good Ridgeback population near there. Where're you from?"  
"Um, Godric's Hollow, here in Britain," Daisy said. Then more nervously, "Did you say dragon?"  
"Yeah, didn't they tell you about dragons?" he asked, surprised.  
"No," Daisy said, a bit unsettled. "What else is there that I don't know about?"  
"Well, that you would have heard of: unicorns, centaurs, fairies. Most Muggles don't really believe in them, but many of their magical creatures are real."  
"That's wicked! Are there vampires?" Daisy asked. She wanted to know everything.  
"Yeah, but I don't think they're considered magical animals. See, there are beings and then there are beasts."  
Daisy and Davey continued to discuss magical creatures the entire afternoon, stopping only to sample the eccentric wizarding candy that Davey had grown up with, and Daisy had never seen. They took their fill of Cauldron Cakes and Chocolate Frogs. Daisy started her Chocolate Frog collection with Morgana and Paracelsus. They quickly returned to their conversation, and soon the sky grew dark.  
"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately," said a voice through the air.  
"Oh no, we need to get our robes on!" Davey said.  
"Well, you go first, and then I'll go. C'mon quick!" Daisy said, leaving the compartment. She waited outside tapping her foot and feeling impatient. She watched the people going by, and hurrying to get ready, when something caught her eye. It was a trio of kids about Daisy's age. Two boys and a girl were walking through, discussing something in great interest. The girl had bushy brown hair and a silver pin was pinned to her front. One of the boys was tall with red hair; the other had black messy hair. They were all already wearing their robes. The boy with black hair was turned toward the girl, saying something. Just as he was about to turn his head around so Daisy could see his face, Davey came out from the compartment.  
"Go on," he said. "You've only got a few minutes!" Daisy hurried to get on her robes, but when she was ready, nearly everyone else had left the train, for it had stopped. Davey however, had waited. They left through the side door.  
Outside they found themselves on a cold platform. A mob of students stood around, some looking anxious. Daisy saw Maggie, grabbed Davey's arm and pulled him over to Maggie.  
"Maggie! What's going on?" Daisy asked. Maggie looked back at her, a bit stressed. Davey looked at both of them, confused.  
"It's nothing, just the carriages are late. And it's Professor McKinnon now, remember."  
"Yeah," Daisy said, "What should we do?"  
"You two should have gone with Hagrid and the other first years to the boats. If you hurry on that path, you can catch them," Maggie said, pointing to a dirt path to her left.  
"Alright," Daisy said.  
"That looks pretty dark," Davey said, speaking for the first time.  
"Oh," Maggie said. "Daisy do you have your wand with you?"  
"Yes," Daisy replied.  
"Give it here," Maggie said. Daisy handed it over, and Maggie pointed it at the ground. "Lumos," she said. Instantly a beam of light extended from the end of the wand, making it look like a skinny flashlight. Maggie handed it back to her and said, "Now, go!"  
Daisy and Davey took off down the path. Daisy held her wand out for them to see. It was very steep, so they didn't stop in case they fell. Finally it began to even out. They went around a corner, and saw it, Hogwarts. Across a dark lake was a gigantic castle, towers stuck out from every angle. Mountains surrounded the area, and a large forest covered one edge of the castle. They also saw a group of first years, clambering into boats.  
"Wait, wait!" they yelled. Everyone in the group turned their heads toward them. A very large man, twice the height of some of the kids, dressed in a huge furry coat, waved his platter sized hand at them. They ran to him.  
"Righ'" said the man. "I though' we were missin' sumone." His small black eyes looked them over. "Yeh must be Daisy."  
"That's me," she said sheepishly.  
"Well, get a boat," he suggested. Daisy and Davey chose the one with no occupants, and settled in. Daisy could see everyone staring at her; it was obvious she was older than all of them. She saw Alana, Cassandra, and Gina whispering and pointing.  
"FORWARD!" roared Hagrid. All the boats began to move across the water and towards the school.  
  
A/N: Isn't Alana just lovely? Sorry if I didn't get Hagrid's voice quite right. If you leave me a review I'll review one of your stories, ok???? 


	7. The Sorting Hat's Clue

Just one more chapter for today. Have fun with this one. Continue  
  
The Girl Who Lived  
  
Chapter Six:  
  
The Sorting Hat's Clue  
  
By the time the first years got to the school, the rest of the students still hadn't arrived. A sharp looking Professor McGonagall had led them into a room and given a speech about Hogwarts, and told them to wait a few minutes before the feast, but it had been at least a half an hour. They all made themselves look as nice as possible, as they had quite a while to do so. To pass the time, they had been getting to know each other and Davey seemed to be quite taken with an Arabic girl across the room.  
"Should I go talk to her?" Davey asked nervously.  
"Go ahead," replied Daisy, "don't make such a big deal out of it."  
"Okay," said Davey, taking a deep breath before heading towards the girl. Daisy watched him introduce himself and start a conversation. She noticed a pair of twin girls; they reminded Daisy that she, according to Sirius, had her own twin. She hadn't thought about her brother the whole train ride. He could be anywhere. He might not even be in the country. Sirius had made it sound like he was alive, but Daisy couldn't know for sure. She also wondered if her family was magic or Muggle. Or if Sirius was. Or her brother.  
The moving pictures in her baby book hinted they were. Daisy had often gazed at the six pictures in the small book. She knew them all by heart now. The first one was of Daisy sleeping; the second was of her locket mother holding her and the boy from The Dream, who by now Daisy had suspected to be her brother. The others showed her father holding her up, Daisy playing with her brother, eating messily, and one of the whole family. They all looked very happy, and she wondered why anyone would want to destroy a family like that. Who could have murdered the parents of two babies? She knew that the only one she could get answers from was Sirius, and if he wasn't a wizard, it might be very hard to contact him.  
"The others have arrived," said Professor McGonagall, finally back. It had been nearly an hour since they had seen her last. "There was a problem with the carriages, but now everyone is ready," she said. Her tone suggested that a preposterous ordeal had just been resolved. "Now everyone line up and follow me." They obliged right away, for they were very bored of standing around. Davey returned, and stood behind Daisy, a grin across his face.  
They exited through a side door and found themselves in the immense Great Hall. Daisy looked around and saw that thousands of candles were floating in the air, giving light to the room (there was no electricity.) The ceiling looked like it was painted as a night sky, but Daisy noticed when it moved that it wasn't painted, but charmed to look like the real sky. There were four long tables full of students. Once again she could feel their eyes singling her out from the rest for her age. She heard whispers from some of them, but only a few of them knew who she was. At the end of the hall one table stood by itself, higher than the others. This is where the staff sat. Before the table, on a small stool, sat an old wizard's hat.  
Professor McGonagall led them towards the hat and they waited silently, all watching it. Suddenly it began to rip apart. The rip formed a mouth shape and out of the blue it began singing:  
  
"Slip me on your head to see, Not wonder anymore. Which house you do belong in, Of the Hogwarts four. In Gryffindor I will place The ones with courage, And stout brave face. Ravenclaw will hold the few With wisdom and knowledge; The quick witted crew. Hufflepuff house will find Loyal hard workers As the only kind. In Slytherin I shall include Ambitious ones; A tight-knit brood. Now I can see inside your head, See things that you cannot. I can read your memories Even those forgot. I will sort you to the house That fits just right for you. I'm never wrong, so put me on I know just what to do."  
  
The entire hall broke into applause. Some of the other first years looked relieved. Daisy supposed this was because they were worried they'd have to do something more than put on a hat. She had heard them talking about it, and their antics humored her. She heard something about wrestling a troll and massive amounts of pain, but Daisy knew all along from reading about it in her Everything: Hogwarts Edition book.  
Professor McGonagall rolled out a piece of parchment.  
"When I call your name, please put on this hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She paused and then shouted, "Ali, Jasmine!"  
Davey nudged Daisy as the Arabic girl strode out and put the hat over her silky black hair and below her eyes. A moment later the hat opened its brim again and yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"  
"Darnit," said Davey under his breath. Jasmine dashed to the blue clothed table where the other Ravenclaws were cheering.  
"Boot, Damon!" McGonagall exclaimed. Damon hurried to the stool.  
"RAVENCLAW!" it yelled again. Damon joined the table as "Carson, Shelby!" became the first Gryffindor.  
Next was Alana's friend, "Crabbe, Cassidy!" She became a Slytherin. After "Dobbs, Jordin!" was a Ravenclaw, "Finn, Scott! Garneau, Emily! and Goyle, Gina!" all became Slytherins.  
Daisy was starting to feel impatient as Michael Kern became a Hufflepuff and David Madison, a Gryffindor.  
"Malfoy, Alana!" McGonagall shouted. Alana strutted across the floor up to the hat.  
She had barely lifted the hat and touched it to her white blond hair when it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Alana, looking satisfied, went to join her companions at the green clothed Slytherin table.  
"Nalty, Allison!"  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
"Oaks, David!" Davey got out of line, and gave a pale look back at Daisy. Daisy smiled encouragingly back at him and he went to the stool. It took a little longer than the others, but the hat finally bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!" Davey took off the hat, grinned broadly at Daisy and joined the Gryffindor table.  
After "O'Keele, Luke!" and "Olson, John!" were sorted (Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff) Daisy started to get nervous. She knew she would be called soon.  
"Patil, Paprika!"  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
Could be any time now.  
"Patil, Sugar!"  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
She might be next.  
"Pierce, Lane"  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
They had skipped her! Daisy suddenly had the sinking feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there. She wasn't going to be sorted.  
"Roman, Maddy!" joined the Hufflepuff table, "Simon, Sasha!" the Ravenclaw. Daisy was thinking of a way to escape without anyone noticing her leaving.  
"Taylor, William!" was sorted into Gryffindor, and "Young, Tom!" to Slytherin, and still Daisy hadn't thought of anything.  
"Zabeck, Paige!" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Daisy began to panic. Everyone in the hall was staring at her; she was the only one left. She wanted to run, but her feet were frozen to the spot. She looked up at Maggie for reassurance, but all she got in return was a confused glance.  
The awkward silence was broken when McGonagall yelled out, "Peterson, Daisy!" Daisy, flooded with relief, stumbled to the stool and sat down, jamming the hat over her red face.  
"Let's see," said a voice inside her head, it was the voice of the Sorting Hat. "Where to put you? Your loyalty wavers, as you have been hurt, but you have good mind. Plenty of bravery, when called upon. And your ambition, to learn about your family."  
"My brother," Daisy thought.  
"Oh yes, him. Then it seems your bravery will be tested. What with who he is."  
"You know who he is?" Daisy thought.  
"Yes, but alas I cannot tell you. But I will tell that he is here at Hogwarts."  
"How do you know?" Daisy asked in her head.  
"I can read memories, even those forgot," it said. "Then I'll make it."  
"Wait!" thought Daisy, but it was too late.  
"GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled, and it said nothing more. Daisy pulled off the hat droopily, and went to join Davey at the Gryffindor table.  
She looked at every face, checking for her brother. After she was nearly through with the Gryffindors, she saw someone she knew.  
"Lavender Brown!" was Daisy's opening line as a Gryffindor. Several heads rolled Daisy's way. Lavender's eyes had been lingering on Daisy already, like they had seen a ghost. But before Lavender could reply, Dumbledore stood up to speak.  
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" he said slowly. "I would like you to remember that you are completely safe here. No harm will come to you here if you stay within the rules and the grounds." His eyes lingered on the Gryffindor table, and a few people looked down. "None of us have forgotten the events of last year, and never will, but know that all that can be done to help is already being done. So we all must try to live with hearts as light as possible." He paused. Hibou had told Daisy that last year a student had been killed at the end of the Triwizard Tournament and Dumbledore believed that he had been murdered by a restored You-Know-Who.  
"On a lighter note, let's eat!"  
Platters and platters of food appeared before them on the table. Daisy's stomach lurched with hunger, but seeing Lavender pushed it aside.  
"I'll be right back," she told Davey. She walked over to Lavender and took a seat.  
"What are you doing here?" they both said at the same time. The blond girl that Lavender was sitting with gave the two of them a confused quizzical look.  
"You!" Daisy said exasperatedly. "This is your boarding school?"  
"Uhh," Lavender stuttered, "yes. How did you get here?"  
"I was accepted," Daisy said bitterly, "I'm a student."  
"That's not possible! You're too old," Lavender said, still not quite believing her eyes.  
"I was supposed to come when you did, they just didn't know. I'm a witch, too."  
"Well, wow," Lavender said. She shifted her eye contact to her friend uncomfortably.  
"Well," Daisy said feeling a little cross, she had always been mad at Lavender for abandoning her. "I'm going to eat." Then she added, "With my friend." She got up to leave, turning her back on Lavender. She could hear whispering behind her:  
"Who was that girl?"  
Daisy ate her meal, trying not to let the sight of her backstabbing friend ruin her first day of school. Davey didn't mention Lavender, he sensed that Daisy didn't want to talk about it, but he did seem to carry on about Jasmine Ali.  
"It's too bad she had to be in Ravenclaw, isn't it?" he asked for the third time.  
"Yes," Daisy said slightly annoyed. Not that she liked Davey any less, but she wished she could talk to a girl, someone closer to her age. But, she thought, having a catfight with one of them probably didn't draw any of the others to her. She sighed, blocking out Davey's gushing, and picked at her apple pie.  
Suddenly Maggie appeared by Daisy. She had a nasty habit of sneaking up on people, but Daisy was half used to it by now.  
"Hi!" Daisy said, feeling good to see someone she trusted. "I haven't seen you all day!" Davey looked up, saw the professor, and wiped his irritated expression off his face.  
"It's good to see you too, Daisy," she replied. "Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office when you're finished."  
"I'm finished now," Daisy said.  
"Oh, you," Maggie teased, laughing at Daisy enthusiasm. "Dumbledore isn't ready yet. When the feast is over come find me."  
"Okay," Daisy said, "no later."  
"Bye now," Maggie said.  
"What does she teach?" Davey asked.  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Daisy said, glad to know something Davey didn't and that they were on a different subject.  
"That class sounds interesting, but I want to start charms most. All my life I've been waiting to do magic," Davey said.  
"Must have been excruciating," Daisy said. "But I think I would have rather grown up knowing what I was."  
"I can't even imagine it," Davey said. "Muggles take so much time to do things that would take seconds with a wand."  
"It's not too bad, I mean we're. or they're used to it," she paused, thinking. "Don't you think it's weird that we do that?"  
"Do what?" asked Davey.  
"Make it us and them, Muggles and wizards."  
"I guess," Davey said. He looked as though he'd never thought about it before. "Well, anyway," he said, "I'm not looking forward to potions; I've heard the professor is horrid."  
Just then, Dumbledore stood again. "Before we all retire for the night, I have a few announcements.  
"First, I want to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students.  
"Next, Quidditch is back on this year!" A roar of approval rose from the crowd. "Anyone interested in trying out should see Madam Hooch next week when the new captains are selected.  
"And finally we have a new addition to our staff. Professor McKinnon will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."  
The crowd clapped politely.  
"Now, all to bed, for it's late with our." he paused smirking, ".hold up. Prefects please lead the first years to your dormitories."  
The girl with bushy brown hair that Daisy had seen on the train was shouting, "Follow me! I'm a prefect. This way." Daisy waved goodbye to Davey and went to find Maggie at the High Table.  
"I'm ready," Daisy said when she had found her.  
"We should get going then," Maggie said, yawning. She led her out of the Hall and through the twisting passageways to a hideous gargoyle.  
"Fizzing Whizbee," she said clearly and the gargoyle jumped away, revealing a set of stairs moving upward like an escalator.  
"You'll keep this between us, alright?" Maggie asked  
"No problem," Daisy replied. They stepped onto the moving stairs, and rode to the top where the stairs stopped. They were facing a large oak door with a metal knocker shaped like a griffin.  
Maggie took it and knocked three times. It opened momentarily, and Daisy found herself gazing at the headmaster's blue eyes.  
"Come in, Daisy. Professor McKinnon" he said. "We have much to talk about."  
  
A/N: A cliffhanger, sort of. . . dun dun dun!!! Thanks for reading, please review!!! 


	8. Postal Emergency

Well, no one seems to be reading this fic because I've only got one current review. Ow, well! I'll keep posting on the chance that someone will pick it up in the middle. Remember, I'll review you if you review me!!!  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Seven: Postal Emergency  
  
Daisy stepped into the office, dimly lit with candles and looked around. Hanging on the walls were portraits of old headmasters, some snoring, and some peering curiously from their frames. A large red and orange plumed bird clung to a perch a few feet from an ancient oak desk.  
Professor McGonagall and an old woman with a crooked nose were sitting in a two of the chairs in the room.  
"Hello, Professor," Daisy said, unsure. At dinner she felt it would be a great escape to see the headmaster's office, but now she just felt very uncomfortable.  
"This is Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said, gesturing at her, "she is your new head of house." He paused, then said in an old wise voice, "Now I won't lie to you Miss Peterson, this year you will have to work very hard to catch up to your classmates. If you have any questions please feel free to ask Professor McGonagall." Professor McGonagall nodded.  
"Also, we are aware that your powers aren't as strong as most student's. But, you do you have some. You may be a squib, but you can still learn magic. Sometimes several highly dramatic experiences in a lifetime will jolt magical powers. That may be why the quill put you down this year."  
Daisy thought that perhaps the death of her parents had been the reason for her sudden magical capability. Then she reflected on Dumbledore's last comment. "What quill?" she asked. This time McGonagall answered her.  
"The Hogwarts selection quill," she said, "makes a list once a year of the new students to be accepted. Usually they are in alphabetical order, but your name, for some reason, your name was last, a week after the rest. Not to mention four years late. Still, we couldn't ignore it."  
"Yes," said Dumbledore. Suddenly he was staring at Daisy like he hadn't seen her there before. Like she was familiar. "Did your parents attend Hogwarts?" he asked.  
"I don't know," Daisy told him. "I was adopted by muggles."  
"Oh," he said, his face surrendering. "I'm sorry. The mind must be getting fuzzy in my old age. Now I'll introduce you to Madam Pince," he waved his arm towards the hooked nose woman who had been listening carefully.  
"Hello, Miss Peterson," she croaked.  
"Madam Pince is the librarian here at Hogwarts," and then with a wink of his blue eyes he added, "You'll want to try not to cross her." Then he smiled, and Daisy nodded to show she was listening. "She's also a trained instructor of the Kwikspell course," he said this part extra sensitively. "As I said before, you are a squib, so I think this basic training will help you along the way. You're first few days of school will be just Kwikspell course with Madam Pince.  
"Alright," Daisy said.  
"After that you will attend classes with the Gryffindor first years. Hopefully around the beginning of November you will start second year lessons. If things go as planned you will end this year with a fifth year education."  
"What about exams?" asked Maggie., "She'll need to take O.W.L.'s"  
"Oh, yes," said Professor McGonagall, "She'll just have to do her best."  
"Excuse me. What's an O.W.L.?" Daisy asked.  
"Ordinary Wizarding Level," Maggie said.  
"Oh, no," Daisy sighed.  
"Don't worry, Daisy," Dumbledore said warmly. "Now there's one thing left we need to discuss. Voldemort," he said solemnly.  
This was the name that Daisy had feared, the name she'd never heard anyone else say out loud, this was You-Know-Who.  
"You said his name," Daisy said surprised.  
"Yes I did. I believe that not saying his name just creates more fear. I think you know about what happened last year involving Voldemort?" he said.  
"Yes, with Cedric Diggory," Daisy replied.  
"Yes and Harry Potter. Voldemort is back, and I believe he's in London. I need to ask you what happened that night you first came to Diagon Alley."  
"Well, I didn't really know where I was going, and the farther I went, the longer I walked I got more and more tired. It was like someone was pushing down my eyelids. I could barely stay awake."  
"But not right at first?" Dumbledore clarified.  
"No, I didn't feel it at all; when I first got outside I met Hibou."  
"Hmm. Others apparated into London and would fall asleep at the spot," Dumbledore explained. "Something just doesn't match up." Daisy shrugged.  
"Well, that's all I need to tell you for now, Daisy. Do you have any questions?"  
"No," Daisy said. A few hours ago she would have been asking questions all night, but now she couldn't think of a single intelligent thing to say at all.  
"Then off to bed," Dumbledore suggested, then gave a long, deep yawn. "Lessons tomorrow!"  
The company said goodnight and Daisy and Maggie were about to leave when Professor McGonagall cried,  
"Oh! Professor McKinnon! Sandpiper. It's sandpiper, don't forget."  
"Thank you," said Maggie.  
A confused Daisy stepped onto the moving flight of stairs and inquired, "What's sandpiper, Mag- I mean, Professor?"  
"The password to your common room, Gryffindor Tower. It's this way."  
Two tapestries, four staircases, and five corridors later they arrived in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress.  
"Password, please," she requested. By now, things like talking pictures didn't phase Daisy. She had seen lots of strange things over the summer.  
"I can't go in," Maggie said. "Teachers who are not head of house are not allowed. Remember to go to the fifth year girl's dorm."  
"Goodbye, Maggie," Daisy said, she suddenly started to feel a little scared of going in alone.  
"I'll see you tomorrow," Maggie said, forgetting to tell her off for not addressing her properly. She pulled Daisy into a hug, surprising her a bit. She realized she hadn't been hugged like this since her mother.  
She squeezed her eyes then turned to the fat lady.  
"Sandpiper," she offered, and the lady swung forward exposing a hole through which she could see a warm looking room brightened with a roaring fire. Big, red armchairs which Daisy thought looked awfully comfortable were positioned around the room. She turned back to Maggie who gave her an encouraging smile.  
Daisy climbed through the hole and the fat lady swung back, concealing the hallway. No one was left in the common room. She saw a spiral staircase, which was probably where the bedrooms were.  
Before she ventured up them, she decided to look around. Suddenly, with a 'pop', something appeared by the fireplace holding a log poker. It was an elf like creature with ears the size of cloth napkins.  
When it turned and saw Daisy, who had been standing and staring frozen to the spot, its face fell.  
"Topper is sorry, Miss. I is leaving now. I is sorry to have bothered you," she squeaked.  
"Oh, that's okay," assured Daisy. She hoped the elf thing wouldn't burst into tears as her tennis ball eyes seemed to be threatening to do, and wake everyone up. "You don't have to go."  
"What is m-mother going to say? House elves is, is not supposed to be seen," she sobbed.  
"Don't cry, um, Topper," Daisy said trying to be comforting. She made a mental note that unstable elf creatures with large eyes and tidying supplies were called house elves. "I'll just go to bed now. Don't feel bad."  
"Yes, Miss. Topper is so, so sorry!" she said shakily.  
"No problem," Daisy whispered carefully then took off for the stairs.  
At the top the hallway split into two parts. Daisy followed the one whose sign indicted "Girls." She read the plaques adorning maple doors until she found the one she was looking for: FIFTH YEARS.  
She grabbed the doorknob and pushed it in. There were six four poster beds. Red velvet curtains hung around them. Three of them were already occupied.  
The curtains moved and Daisy saw the face of Lavender's blond friend. She hadn't thought about this, but since they were the same age, Lavender would be her roommate.  
"What are you doing here?" she asked hostilely.  
Before Daisy could reply that she lived here, another girl opened her curtain and said, "Oh do shut up, Parvati. Professor McGonagall told us we were getting a new person." It was the bushy-brown haired prefect from the train. She turned to look at Daisy.  
"Sorry about her. I'm Hermione Granger," she said. Daisy thought she was nice enough.  
"Daisy Peterson," Daisy said smiling. Hermione pointed at something furry at Daisy's feet. She hadn't noticed it.  
"That's Crookshanks. Watch out for him. He's been known to, er, jump on people's heads, but at heart he really is nice." Daisy backed away a little.  
"Yeah, sure," Parvati said skeptically. Daisy noticed Lavender hadn't said anything. She must have been sleeping or pretending to be.  
"You can have whichever bed you want because we really should go to sleep," Hermione suggested. "I want to be wide awake for arithmancy tomorrow!"  
"Know-it-all," Parvati said, failing miserably to hide it within a cough.  
Hermione chose to ignore it. "I'm so glad to finally share a room with someone of substance."  
"Me too," Daisy said. She got her trunk, which she had just noticed was already in the room, and brought it to the foot of the bed to the left of Hermione's, closest to the door and farthest from Lavender.  
  
The next morning, Daisy's eyes popped open at the sound of an alarm clock.  
"I got it," someone yawned.  
"Hit snooze," another voice suggested hopefully.  
"No, we can't be late on our first day!" That was definitely Hermione. Daisy was getting the impression that she was nice, but also overly, if not obsessively responsible.  
She opened her velvet curtain. Light was pouring in from a single window across the room. Hermione already had her robes on, but Parvati was just sort of rolling around in the sheets. Daisy sat up then got out of bed. She wasn't tired at all. She opened her trunk and pulled out clean robes and her wand.  
Lavender had already taken the bathroom so Daisy brought them back to her bed and drew the curtains. A few moments later she reappeared, fully dressed. She grabbed her hairbrush and started running it through her hair.  
"What time do classes start, Hermione?"  
"Nine, but breakfast goes until eight fifty," she said. Daisy glanced at the clock. Seven fifty-eight it said.  
They finished getting ready and started to leave. Parvati had just gotten out of bed and Lavender was still in the bathroom.  
They walked down the hall and stairs to the common room. Thankfully, it was house elf free.  
"Hermione?" Daisy said.  
"Yeah," she replied.  
"I saw the weirdest thing last night. I was just walking in when this thing, I think it said it was a house elf." Hermione humphed and frowned. "Anyway, it was really surprised. She acted like she'd just killed her own puppy just for letting me see her."  
"I can't believe Dumbledore still has house elves. He must be my second favorite person in the world, but still."  
"Who's your favorite?" Daisy asked mischievously.  
Hermione blushed pink and said quickly, "Er, nobody. We should get moving."  
Daisy chuckled and said, "If you say so."  
The Great Hall was packed. Daisy saw Davey and headed over. Hermione followed. It was an interesting feeling, Daisy decided, to be followed. She had been trailing others since yesterday and no one ever followed her at her old school.  
"Hi, Davey!" she called out.  
"Hi," he replied. He was sitting next to another first year boy. Daisy noticed that they had a clear view of the Ravenclaw table and Jasmine Ali.  
"How was Dumbledore?"  
"Good," Daisy said vaguely. She thought he'd probably been better, what with Voldemort running free. She decided that she would at least mentally if not verbally refer to You-Know-Who with his proper name.  
"She's great isn't she?" Davey mused. Daisy raised her eyebrows while poor confused Hermione stood there.  
"Who's your friend?" she asked Daisy.  
"Oh!" Daisy said, remembering that she had forgotten her manners.  
"Davey, Hermione. Hermione, Davey," she said, gesturing to them in turn. "Who's your friend?" she asked Davey.  
They boy next to Davey, also blond but more of a golden shade, looked up at them.  
"This is David," Davey said.  
"Well that's kind of cute," Hermione said. "Kind of confusing though, too. David, Davey, Daisy." She trailed off a little.  
"Hmm." Daisy said. Davey's eyes wandered back to the Ravenclaw table. "See you later Davey." They moved to the other side of the table and grabbed some toast, Daisy sitting on one side and Hermione on the other.  
"I wonder where Ron and Harry are," Hermione said.  
"Who?" Daisy asked just as a boy with flaming red hair started to sneak up behind Hermione. It was the boy Daisy had seen Hermione with on the train. He put his fingers to his lips to signal, "Don't tell."  
Hermione didn't suspect a thing so when he grabbed her shouting, "Boo!" she nearly fell of her chair.  
He sat down in a chair next to her. A black boy across from him was laughing hard with his friend.  
"Smooth, Hermione," he said.  
"That was great, Ron!" said his friend.  
"That wasn't funny," Hermione insisted. "You shouldn't do things like that, you know, these days. What would Harry say?" Ron's grin faded a little. A boy with messy black hair and glasses came up behind them.  
"What would I say about what?" he asked.  
"Nothing," Ron and Hermione chimed together. Harry stared at them. Hermione turned to Daisy. "This is Daisy, she's a new student."  
"Hi," said Ron.  
"Hi," said Harry, looking into Daisy's eyes. There was an odd scar on his forehead, but his eyes held Daisy's attention. They were green and sparkly, painfully familiar, but she couldn't figure why. He was also looking at her perplexed.  
"Do," he said, confused, "do I know you?"  
"I don't know," Daisy said. She was also sure she'd seen him somewhere. "I grew up in Godric's Hollow."  
"Oh, Little Whinging," Harry said. "It's just you look so familiar. Something in the eyes."  
"Me too," Daisy cried. She finally took her eyes off Harry and noticed Hermione and Ron were looking at them like they were crazy.  
"Earth to Harry," Ron said. Harry looked at him blankly. "We've got Divination, so we better go." A disgusted look came over his face.  
"Alright," Harry said. "See you at lunch, Daisy."  
"Yeah, bye," Ron said.  
"Bye," Daisy said. Then she looked at Hermione. "We should probably go too. Do you know where the library is?"  
Hermione laughed.  
  
A few minutes after the bell, Madam Pince looked down at Daisy from her hooked nose. She hadn't yet acknowledged her existence.  
"Are you to ready to begin Miss Peterson?" she asked.  
"Yes," Daisy said.  
"First some history on Kwikspell. It is generally taken as a correspondence course, but it can also be completed in a few days of intensive training," she said. "You, obviously, will take the intensive training route." She breathed and cleared her throat. "Squibs like you usually have trouble grasping the basics. Our first lesson we will cover holding the wand."  
After three hours of intensive training Daisy had learned about holding a wand, flick and swish movements, and enunciating a spell. Daisy took a lunch break.  
In the Great Hall she met Hermione, Ron, and Harry.  
"How was Arithmancy and Divination?" she asked.  
Ron looked at her and said, "Let's just put it this way, never take Divination."  
"I've always said," reminded Hermione, "drop Divination and take up Arithmancy. Professor Sinastra is brilliant."  
"I'd rather not," Ron said. "At least we didn't get any homework."  
"I can't take any extra classes this year, anyway," said Daisy.  
Harry was sort of staring into his ham sandwich. He always seemed to be lost in thought. He looked almost old, like he'd been through a lot.  
The trio had Transfiguration next so Daisy headed back to the library for her next Kwikspell lesson, but she was ambushed by Hibou.  
"Hello," she said. They were all alone. "How come you didn't show up at breakfast with the other owls?"  
"I had a postal emergency involving your emergency post. You got a letter from a convicted killer. Do you happen to be in touch with Sirius Black?"  
"Yeah, I guess. He was a friend of my biological parents," Daisy said, she felt a little confused. "Did you say he killed someone?"  
"Yes!" Hibou exclaimed. "He escaped the wizard prison, Azkaban, and is wanted by the ministry. He killed a wizard and a load of muggles right after You-Know-Who came out of power. He was one of his followers."  
"No!" Daisy said, horrified.  
"Yes. You should show the letter to Dumbledore as soon as you get it," he advised.  
"Where is it?"  
"In the owlery, I had to snatch from this rough looking owl," he said, shuddering.  
"I'll get it later," Daisy promised. "Right after this lesson."  
"Okay," he agreed, "I'll hunt you down if you don't."  
"I'm going to be late!" Daisy said, looking at her watch. She hustled to the library, arriving just in time.  
She tried to concentrate on saying a spell in the right tone and aiming her spells, but it was apparent she wasn't focusing really. She ended up having to write a page long summary of what she had learned and a list of eight tips to remember spells. As soon as class was over, she tracked down Hermione and asked to see the owlery.  
They got there and the sun was just setting. Long shadows were cast all around, and beams of colorful sunset light were pouring through the loose boards of walls. The rafters and rafters of owls hooting softly made the whole place seem eerie.  
"Do you need to send a letter?" Hermione asked.  
"Actually I'm expecting one," Daisy replied.  
"Owl post usually arrives in the morning at breakfast," Hermione said knowingly.  
"I'll just check," Daisy said, looking for her own brown owl. "Hibou?" she called, and then just in case she added, "I brought a visitor to see you."  
From the shadows, out glided Hibou carrying the envelope in his claw. Daisy quickly took it from him and covered the address. She didn't want Hermione to think she was involved with a magical criminal.  
"Who's it from?" asked Hermione, she seemed very surprised that Daisy had actually gotten her letter.  
"Er, nobody," Daisy said quickly, almost too quickly.  
"Oh I see," Hermione said slyly. "You don't have to tell me." At first Daisy thought she actually knew that she was corresponding with a fugitive, and about had a heart attack, but then she realized that Hermione thought she had a boyfriend. She let her think what she wanted to.  
"I, um, kind of want to read it privately," Daisy tried.  
"Okay," Hermione replied in a secretive type of tone. She didn't seem hurt or insulted, just really happy to be let in on something like this. "I'll just see you back in the common room. Can you find your way back?"  
"I'll manage," Daisy said and grinned. "Thanks."  
Hermione started down and Daisy took the letter from its envelope. There were two pages. She unfolded them. Hibou settled down on her shoulder as he habitually did when she got a letter and Daisy read:  
  
Dear Daisy,  
  
I said I would be in touch so here I am. I found out that  
you've gone to Hogwarts; that will make explaining all of this much  
easier. First, as you might have heard, I am an escaped prisoner of  
Azkaban, but I am innocent. Dumbledore knows and trusts me; you can  
ask him if you don't, but before you do please finish this letter.  
I need to give you some information about yourself. I was  
trying to tell you at the funeral, but I saw someone I knew so I had  
to leave before he recognized me.  
As I told you, your parents were murdered. But it was Voldemort  
who did it. After he attacked I assumed you were dead as well, and  
no one else knew to look for you. This is because of a Fidelus  
charm. If you haven't heard of the Fidelus Charm it is a spell that  
hides a piece of information inside a Secret-Keeper. No one can find  
out the secret unless the Secret-Keeper dies or willingly reveals  
it.  
In your case, I was the Secret-Keeper, as well as your  
godfather. Your parents were enemies of Voldemort when you and your  
brother were born. They decided when they found out that you were a  
squib that they would hide the fact that they had a daughter so  
Voldemort wouldn't have any extra reason to hurt you or the family.  
That information has been kept inside of me ever since. It wasn't  
meant to be hidden for this long and you deserve to know who you  
are, but now more than ever I think you should keep it to yourself.  
Dumbledore, I'm sure, has told you that Voldemort is back. You could  
be a prime victim because of your ability and identity. I don't want  
to scare you, but I'm worried for you. If you and I keep the secret  
from everyone, and I mean everyone, the spell will keep anyone else  
from figuring it out and you will be safe.  
Now when you read this it may seem obvious, but the spell never  
fails. You're parents are James and Lily Potter and your brother is  
  
Daisy flipped the page.  
  
Harry Potter.  
  
From,  
Sirius  
  
A/N: Now she knows, and you know, and no one else knows. That's  
great, just great!  
Please review, please. Thank you! 


	9. The Summons

Wow! Uploading is really kinda hard and screwed up sometimes, huh? Well, here is Miss Potter's reaction:  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Eight: The Summons  
  
Everything came together in Daisy's mind. It did seem obvious. Of course Harry was her brother. His eyes were so familiar to her because they were identical to her own. They had the same genes!  
Hibou, who couldn't read, said, "Now straight to Dumbledore."  
"I don't think Sirius is guilty. He says Dumbledore trusts him," Daisy told him.  
"Well," Hibou said doubtfully, "if you say so. I can't make you tell, but if you get in trouble for hiding information on Sirius Black."  
"It doesn't say where he is!" Daisy insisted. "It just talks about me."  
"He sounds dangerous," Hibou said huffily.  
  
Daisy wasn't sure what she thought of Harry being her brother. She wouldn't tell him of course, or anyone, but every time he saw her he'd look so confused. He didn't say much, talking to Ron when he did. But still, Daisy couldn't help liking him more and more. He was her brother. She tossed it around in her mind. "Harry Potter is my brother." She had always wanted a sibling and she vowed to be the best covert sister she could possibly be.  
The discovery of her parent's identities also interested her. Technically her name was now Daisy Potter, but since she couldn't tell anyone she didn't know how that would help her.  
By now she knew the story of their demise and Harry's destroying of Voldemort's powers. She no longer felt bitter towards them. Rather she was sad she had never known them. She read in her Everything book about the Halloween night when he had come for them. She wondered if she was there that night. Even if she was, no one would ever know.  
  
Madam Pince looked over Daisy's homework neutrally. "Make an acronym," she muttered thoughtfully before filing it away. It had been three days since the first day of intensive training. She brought out from behind her desk a very old cauldron. Daisy's own was locked away in her trunk, where her letter from Sirius was also hidden.  
"Today is your last day with me before you begin lessons with the other first years. We will be going over some potions basics." Daisy dipped her quill in blue ink and wrote "Potions Basics" at the top of her paper.  
"Some things you'll want to remember are to try to have a recipe at hand as well as a watch. Always follow directions exactly." Daisy took attentive notes throughout the speech.  
"Now you will try to make a simple cleaning solution." She started rummaging around in her desk again.  
Daisy's eyes wandered around until they caught on something. A rope was separating a few shelves from the rest of the library. A sign above the shelves read: RESTRICTED SECTION.  
"Ah-hem," Madam Pince demanded. She was ready with the potion ingredients, scale, and recipe. "You have a watch?" she inquired.  
"Yes," Daisy said, and pointed to the one on her wrist.  
"These are prepared," Madam Pince said, pointing to the jars on her desk. "We'll discuss how to properly prepare ingredients after this." She handed over the recipe.  
Daisy read through the entire thing before starting. First she added a liter of water and some fluxweed. After two minutes she took a pinch of powdered batwings and tossed it in with flare.  
There was a "boom" and smoke rose out from the cauldron. From behind the mist Madam Pince appeared. Matter-of-Factly she stated, "Sometimes that will happen. The potion will sense you're lack of power." She never seemed to be particularly sensitive to the fact that Daisy was "magically challenged." When she said Daisy was a squib it was as if she was saying Daisy had green eyes. Still it made her uncomfortable sometimes.  
"If it does," Madam Pince continued, "it will retaliate with explosion. Usually it won't harm the potion, but it will affect the quality. Try to add ingredients mellowly. Personality helps the potion sense." Daisy added the green willow bark as mellowly as possible.  
  
The next day was Saturday, their day off. Hermione wanted to spend the day in the library, and though Daisy had spent enough time in there lately, she went along anyway. Daisy was learning that Hermione was not only overly responsible, but she was also obsessive with being top of the class and knowing everything about everything.  
They sat at a table behind a shelf of spell books. Hermione was deeply involved in her arithmancy. Daisy was flipping through her newly assigned copy of A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration, half taking in what she saw.  
"Hermione?" she asked. She was trying to summon up her courage to ask her about Harry, something she had been attempting to do ever since she had gotten the letter from Sirius. But Hermione seemed to be quite fascinated with Harry herself, though not quite for the same reason, and Daisy didn't want her to think that she was after Harry. So at the last minute she said, thinking quickly, "What's with the Restricted Section? What do you think is in there?"  
Hermione didn't look up right away. She finished her problem and slowly rolled her head to face Daisy. "Well, there's loads of different kinds of stuff. Harry's been in there, he said the books screamed and were bloodstained. I got a pretty gruesome potion book from there once."  
"Why?" Daisy asked, intrigued.  
"A few years ago there was this basilisk loose in the school, so of course Harry and Ron and I thought it was being controlled by Malfoy."  
"Alana?!" Daisy asked, surprised, thinking back to the train.  
"No," said Hermione looking confused. "Draco. Don't tell me he has a sister."  
"It's his cousin," Daisy told her.  
"Great," Hermione said flatly. "Well anyway. Everyone else was being thick and thought it was Harry. So we made this potion out of the book in the Restricted Section to turn into Malfoy's best friends to get him to admit it. But it turned out that it wasn't Malfoy. It was You-Know-Who, well his memory anyway. But Harry took care of that. He killed the memory and the basilisk too," she said passionately.  
Daisy raised her eyebrows and Hermione blushed.  
"I have a confession to make," she said guiltily.  
"Yes," Daisy asked, curious.  
"I think," she started slowly, "that I like Harry."  
"Wow," Daisy said, unimpressed.  
"As more than a friend," Hermione finished.  
"Oh," Daisy surprised.  
"I've never told that to anyone before," Hermione said, flushed.  
"I won't tell anyone," Daisy promised. She thought that this would be a good time to ask about Harry without seeming suspicious. "So, has he always been so quiet? Harry, I mean."  
"Not really," Hermione said thinking. "Just since, well, last year when he saw him."  
"Vol- You-Know-Who?" Daisy asked. She'd never heard this before.  
"Yes. That's how Dumbledore knows he's back in power. Because Harry saw it happen right in front of him. He even saw his parents come out of his wand."  
My parents, Daisy thought. "That's awful," she said. She wanted to track Harry down and give him a big hug, but a part of her wanted to go ask him about seeing his, or their, parents, but that didn't seem right, and probably never would.  
  
Monday morning, Daisy's eyes popped open as they had on the first day of school.  
"Hermione!" she exclaimed, pulling the curtains back. "I have Transfiguration today!" She couldn't wait to start real lessons.  
"I wish I was as lucky," Hermione said. "I have Potions with Snape."  
Parvati for once agreed. "Potions is awful. I wish Dumbledore would just sack him."  
"Well." Hermione said then trailed off. She looked purposefully at the floor.  
Lavender didn't say anything. Daisy got the feeling that she was still mad at her. She found satisfactory evidence in that by the fact that Lavender's new best friend Parvati was often openly cross with her. Daisy didn't really mind. She was avoiding Lavender, too.  
At breakfast they sat with Ron and Harry as usual and discussed Professor McGonagall. Hedwig, Harry's snowy owl, came with a letter.  
"Finally!" Harry said. "He wrote back." Ron glanced at him nervously.  
  
"Who's it from?" Daisy asked.  
Harry looked up at Daisy. "Er, nobody. Just, um, Snuffles." He looked uneasy.  
"Okay," Daisy said, laying off.  
  
McGonagall's lesson was even better than Daisy thought it would be. Davey was delighted to have the Ravenclaws join them. He gave Daisy the notes from last week and told her that they had turned matches to needles. This week they were supposed to turn a feather into a leaf. Daisy succeeded finally, but only after a loud "boom!" as with the potion.  
McGonagall looked sharply in Daisy's direction, but when Daisy smiled sheepishly and held up an oak leaf, her face softened a little.  
Her other classes were also fine. Herbology was her close favorite. Taught by a stout Professor Sprout in the greenhouses, it didn't involve much magic and the soil and plants were a nice retreat.  
She also loved Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor McKinnon, as Daisy had decided to now mentally refer to her. They were concentrating on dueling this year. After they learned the basic etiquette of it, it was fun to learn ways to curse their opponents.  
David and Davey had instantly chosen each other as dueling partners, so rather than asking Parvati's younger sister, Sugar, to be her partner; she caught the eye of a girl named Shelby Carson. She was nice enough, but really quiet, and not so good at dueling so they were a good match.  
Her Charms classes with Professor Flitwick weren't as enjoyable. Flitwick was nice, but the class was shared with Slytherins and all of it was magic, pure magic. Flitwick told her in advance that her first year exam would be to make a pineapple dance across his desk. But, as Daisy could hardly make her feather move farther than an inch off the table, she didn't see how that was possible by Halloween when her first year exams to pass the year were scheduled.  
By far the worst class was Potions with the slimy haired, sallow skinned, Professor Snape. Hermione and Ron weren't kidding when they called him a "bloody git!" He was nasty and took a point from Gryffindor for every "boom!" that Daisy's cauldron made, no matter how hard she tried to add the puffer fish eyes nonchalantly.  
"I will not tolerate such a disturbance in my classroom," he spat at her. "The next time I hear an explosion from your cauldron, Miss Peterson, ten points will be taken from Gryffindor!"  
Across the room Alana Malfoy and her friends giggled. Snape was head of Slytherin House, and it was plain that he favored the Slytherins. He often gave them lavish amounts of points and held their mediocre draughts up for example. Daisy was sure that any Gryffindor giggling would not be tolerated. But thankfully, there were no more ingredients to add and she let her potion simmer for the rest of the lesson.  
  
As October started, the days began to shorten and it rained often. One night Dumbledore stood and raised his goblet to get everyone's attention.  
"An announcement, students!" he shouted jovially. "This year at Hogwarts we are going to have a dueling tournament." Some students cheered, others stopped whispering suddenly for fear of being caught not paying attention, but many sat still, their faces turning white.  
"Some of you may not be so enthusiastic to enter a contest after last year. But I assure you, it will be safe. You will only be dueling each other and it is completely optional. But it may be a great opportunity to learn some new techniques to defend yourself. There will be seven levels, one for each year. The winner of each level will earn 200 points towards their house and can take the year off from exams." He paused. Daisy could tell her classmates were warming up to the idea. Dumbledore continued, "Professor McKinnon will be the tournament master. Sign up tomorrow in your common rooms and the tournament will begin the day of the first Quidditch match. Please participate and good luck.  
A loud chatter broke out all over the Great Hall.  
"Are you entering?"  
"I'm going you enter!"  
"I bet he'll win."  
"You should enter, Hermione. You're a good dueler," Harry said.  
Hermione blushed and said, "I guess I will."  
"How about you, Harry?" Daisy asked. "I've heard you're a good dueler."  
"I don't like dueling anymore," he said sullenly.  
  
Daisy wasn't sure how she'd done it, but after a month of hard work, she was confidently prepared for her exams, most of them anyway. She had to cram in learning some other first spells, like lighting a proper "lumos" to her wand, too.  
On Halloween before the feast she made a trip to each of her classrooms. She transfigured a mouse into a crude snuffbox for McGonagall. It wasn't pretty, but it didn't have whiskers. She disarmed Professor McKinnon in Defense Against the Dark Arts. She planted a young mandrake in Herbology while donning fuzzy white earmuffs.  
Her pineapple did sort of a slow interpretive dance instead of tap for Flitwick, but she was pretty sure she passed. It was more than creepy brewing a forgetfulness potion in the cold dungeon alone with Snape. He was, Daisy was sure, marking her way down for her two minimal "booms!" She could only remain hopeful that she would start second year potions next week as planned.  
After all that, the Halloween feast tasted phenomenal. She ate until she was stuffed full with everyone else. Ron joked that something more exciting usually happens on Halloween.  
"Where's the troll," Harry said, showing a little humor for once.  
"Nothing could go wrong now," said Hermione. But that jinxed it. Something had to go wrong now, and it did.  
Daisy was walking back to Gryffindor Tower to tuck in for a good sleep, when she heard something. It sounded like a voice. She followed it back down the corridor until she reached a door where the voice seemed to be coming from.  
She paused for a second before gripping the doorknob. It could just be a trick from Peeves, the spiteful school poltergeist. But again she heard the voice. Distinctly it was crying, "Help!"  
Daisy pulled the door open and went in. She saw Lavender on the floor. She lay there limply, tears streamed down her cheeks.  
She looked up blankly at Daisy, blinked a few times and muttered, "What? Where." The door slammed shut behind Daisy. "No!" cried Lavender.  
Daisy was the one to say, "What?" this time.  
Lavender looked panicked. "It.it locks us in! We'll just.I can't remember."  
Daisy walked over to her old friend, she couldn't deny that, and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "It's okay," she cooed. "It'll be alright. We'll get out of here." Daisy wondered if that was true and how long Lavender had been in here.  
"No," Lavender insisted. "It might come back!"  
"What? What might come back?" Daisy asked, getting a little scared. Lavender seemed to be a bit off. Maybe the room was bewitched with an insanity charm. It was very small, the size of a jail cell, and totally empty. There was one curved window, but they were on the fourth floor, so escaping through there was out of the question.  
"Lavender? What might come back? Did it hurt you? We'll tell Dumbledore so he can make it go away."  
"No!" Lavender screeched again. "Dumbledore can't. It'll just be worse! Oh!"  
"Lavender!" Daisy said firmly, shaking her by the shoulders, "you have to calm down." But Lavender passed out cold. Daisy caught her easily with the grip she already had. She lay her down on the floor gently. She wished she knew the spell to make someone come to.  
She suddenly got an eerie sinking feeling that she was very alone and helpless. She tried the door knowing what the outcome would be. Locked. She tried alohomora, the unlocking spell, but it was no use. Even Hermione would have trouble unlocking this door.  
She started banging on the door and yelling, but no one seemed to be in that part of Hogwarts. After ten minutes she finally stopped and slumped to the floor. Lavender was still unconscious and Daisy had no idea what she was going to do.  
The lantern hanging from the ceiling suddenly blew out. They were left in darkness. The moon was facing the other side of the castle and Daisy could barely see through the little starlight. She almost started panicking too when she thought she heard something like a whisper. She gripped her wand and shakily conjured up a blue flame as fast as she could, a spell Hermione had taught her.  
"Boom!" In the blue glow Daisy quickly determined that they were indeed alone. The "boom!" seemed to have disturbed Lavender and she was coming to.  
She blinked her eyes open, saw Daisy, and looked around, bewildered. "Where are we?" she asked.  
"Are you okay?" Daisy asked. Lavender was still blinking.  
"I'm fine," she snapped. "What did you do?"  
"Nothing, I found you in here crying and scared and the door closed behind us. And then you were rambling about something getting you!" Daisy explained.  
"What are you talking about?" Lavender said.  
"You said." Daisy insisted.  
"No, I didn't. Now stop kidding around." She was starting to get irritated. She got up and went to the door. She pulled and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.  
"What are we going to do," Daisy moaned, setting the fire on the window ledge.  
"Did you try alohamora?" Lavender demanded.  
"Yes, it didn't work," Daisy said. "Don't you remember anything?"  
"No. I just remember waking up in here," she said, starting to believe what Daisy was saying.  
Daisy was getting upset now. "I don't know what we're going to do. How could this happen?"  
"I have an idea," Lavender said. "In charms we're learning this spell. It's to summon people. Only Hermione has really gotten it though. Still."  
"Well try it," Daisy directed. "Summon Dumbledore."  
"Okay," Lavender said and took a deep breath. She pulled out her wand and uttered, Acciocuput Dumbledore!" They waited, their breath bated, and the blue fire glowed on.  
"I don't think it worked," Lavender said. "You try it."  
"Are you kidding me?" Daisy asked.  
"Just try," Lavender begged. Her brown eyes were beginning to tear up. Daisy pictured the old man in her mind.  
"Acciocuput Dumbledore!" she cried. Her wand felt warm in her fingers, but there was no boom.  
Again they waited. A few minutes later they heard footsteps. "Help us, we're in here!" they yelled, pounding on the door. They heard the handle start to turn and open. At once they leaped from the room, slamming the blue fire inside.  
They found themselves entangled on the floor with a surprised Dumbledore.  
"Thank you!" Daisy exclaimed and gave him a squeeze.  
After they stood up and composed themselves, Dumbledore looked at Daisy seriously, the same remembering look he always gave her.  
"Did you summon me?" he inquired, amazed. He put extra emphasis on the word you.  
"Yes," Daisy explained rapidly. "We were stuck so we had to, and alohomora wouldn't work!"  
"No, no," Dumbledore said. "It's alright that you did, but how? Some adult wizards have trouble with that spell."  
Daisy didn't know how she'd done it herself. Charms was her worst subject. How could she use an advanced spell on her first try when she could barely make a piece of fruit move a few feet?  
"I guess I was just really needed to. Adrenaline, you know," Daisy mused.  
"How long were you in there?" Dumbledore asked.  
"I don't know," Daisy said. "I went in right after the feast. Lavender was." Daisy thought about what Lavender had said. "Dumbledore can't. It'll just make it worse!" She decided to leave out the part about what ever was about to "get" Lavender. ".she was there when I opened the door."  
"And I guess I passed out, because I don't remember anything," Lavender said.  
"Maybe you should go to the hospital wing, Miss Brown," Dumbledore suggested.  
"No, I'm fine now," Lavender assured.  
"Then hurry to your dorm. This door will be sealed off." He shook his head wearily as they walked up to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
Okay, well I'm leaving the country tomorrow until 8/20, but if I have lots of reviews I'll post faster k??? 


	10. Snitchnip

Hello! Sorry I haven't been updating. I didn't realize I'd been getting reviews! So thanks to a1s2d3f4, Splunge, Jane Riddle, and Phredtheflyingmonkey! Here you are:  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Nine: Snitchnip  
  
Word of the Haunted Halloween Closet as it came to be known, spread rapidly. Daisy experienced some stardom that was welcome for a change, and she and Lavender both were glad to tell anyone who asked all the details.  
But as November pulled in its claws even deeper, they were overshadowed by the ever heroic Quidditch teams. Daisy found Quidditch to be an interesting part of magical culture. She couldn't fly for dung, as she learned on her first flying lesson, but she thought she would always be an avid fan because she was a brutal soccer fan.  
Quidditch was a sport played on broomstick with a ball to be thrown through a hoop while two other balls flew around trying to knock riders off their brooms. Meanwhile a small golden ball, the Snitch, would fly around with one player trying to catch it. That would end the game and also earn the capturer's team 150 points.  
Daisy also learned that Harry was such a capturer, or Seeker, for the Gryffindor team. Ron was also on the team. He was the Keeper, like a goalie, and it was his job to defend the hoops. Daisy was anxious to see both of them fly in the upcoming Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor game.  
That day Daisy was up in the Owlery to visit Hibou and send a letter to Sirius. They tried to write to each other regularly, Hibou wasn't always around to send post. Maggie had been sending quite a few letters with Hibou lately.  
When they could write, Daisy kept Sirius updated on what was happening at Hogwarts, and Sirius gave her an idea of the outside world. It wasn't happy. London was a mess. Muggles were being killed again, but the Ministry couldn't protect them at night. Some once half trusted wizards were disappearing. Sirius knew they were in league with Voldemort because of what he had heard in Azkaban. He was also stayed in touch with Harry. Sirius told her that Harry had helped him stay on the run in his third year. Harry trusted him too, but Daisy wasn't going to tell him that because that might lead to some interesting questions. It was the same with Dumbledore.  
As Hibou flew through the window, the letter securely tied on his talon, Daisy saw the back of a fiery red haired head.  
"Hi Ron," she greeted cheerily. She walked around to meet him, but when he turned around it was not Ron, but someone who looked a lot like him, just taller and older.  
"No, you're confused. Ron's much shorter than me," said the boy. He grinned at her. "You're Daisy aren't you?"  
"Yeah," she said, confused. "Do you.?"  
"Ron talks about you all the time. My name's Fred Weasley. I'm his brother."  
How did I miss that? Daisy thought. I'm some friend. I didn't even know Ron had a brother at Hogwarts. They did look alike, but Fred was different. Daisy's stomach didn't feel all funny when she looked at Ron.  
"Sending a letter?" Daisy asked.  
"No, I just come up here to talk to the owls," he said.  
So Hibou isn't the only one, Daisy thought. But then she saw Fred's sly smile.  
"Actually, I'm writing to Mum. Got to keep her updated on Ginny," he said. Fortunately Daisy knew Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister in fourth year. She wasn't that disconnected. Fred was tying a letter to the leg of barn owl.  
"Well, I have to be off," he said.  
"I guess I'll see you at the Quidditch match" Daisy said.  
"Probably," Fred said cunningly, "I'm on the team. Ron hasn't told you anything, has he?"  
"I guess not," Daisy said. "See you later then."  
"Bye," he said and tromped down the stairs. Daisy watched him all the way down.  
  
"And they're off!" roared Lee Jordan, the Hogwarts Quidditch commentator. Daisy and Hermione were sitting in the stands with Hagrid, who was also the Care of Magical Creatures professor and a close friend of Harry's in addition to groundskeeper. The sky was clear, but the wind was blowing cold and fierce. Daisy and Hermione both clutched Ominoculars, Hermione had her own and Daisy had borrowed Harry's, and peered into the sky.  
Harry was flying high above the rest, his eyes peeled for the Snitch. Hermione was keeping her eyes on the main game, but Daisy was watching Fred keep the Bludgers in check. He was very quick, and often almost seemed like he was in two places at once. Daisy was puzzling over how this was going on, so she slowed down the picture on the Ominoculars. There were definitely two Fred Weasleys.  
"Hermione!" Daisy exclaimed. "Fred's there twice!"  
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked, not taking her eyes off Harry.  
"Fred Weasley," Daisy said, "he's there and there." She pointed to the two spots in the air.  
"That's George," Hermione explained. "They're twins." Of course, Daisy thought. Who isn't?  
She watched the chasers fly around with the Quaffle for a little while and noticed that Miss Johnson, the girl from Flourish and Blotts was on the Gryffindor team.  
The wind blew harder and harder. Daisy, Hermione and most everyone else in the stands wrapped their cloaks around their shoulders tighter. About a half an hour had passed since the match began.  
"Harry be'er urry and catch that Snitch. That new Ravenclaw Chaser looks like 'es goin' ter fall right off 'is broom," remarked Hagrid. It was true. The second year boy was a good flier, but he didn't have a lot of weight. The seeker of the Ravenclaw team was a girl named Cho Chang. Daisy had met her in the hall one day. And she was very nice. Daisy had heard something about her getting a new broom, but no one's broom compared to Harry's Firebolt. It was the best broom in the Quidditch industry. He had gotten it in his third year under mysterious circumstances that Daisy wasn't sure about. But it was definitely good. He wasn't even affected by the wind.  
"And Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor has the Quaffle- she's off to the goalpost- Ravenclaw chaser Hafferty's coming for her- Oh! She passes to Katie Bell and dodges Hafferty. Bell goes for it. GRYFFINDOR SCORES! Gryffindor 40-Ravenclaw-20."  
Harry was diving out of nowhere, Cho was trailing behind him.  
"Is that the Snitch?!" belted Lee, "Gryffindor Seeker is going for it!" Everyone watched the Seekers flying broomtail to broom tip. Daisy zoomed her Ominoculars below them. She couldn't see the Snitch anywhere. Across the screen flashed "Wronski Defensive Feint - Dangerous Seeker Diversion"  
"What the." Daisy said, knocking on them. Still they flashed.  
"He's faking!" Hermione cried, but no one on the pitch could hear her through the wind. Alicia Spinnet, a Gryffindor Chaser, had the Quaffle clasped in her arms but the game had stopped, the other players' eyes glued to Harry and Cho.  
Daisy zoomed in on Harry. He was ten feet.five feet.two feet from the ground! He was going to crash! But suddenly he pulled out from the dive and shot up into the sky. Cho wasn't so lucky; she crashed right into the ground.  
"Ouch! Ravenclaw seeker smashes the pitch. Amazing play by Potter! Wronski Feint!" The crowd cheered, mostly Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, but some Slytherins who were never glad to see Gryffindors succeed and Ravenclaws looked very sour.  
The whistle blew, and Harry turned right around. He saw Cho and flew to her, a look of horror on his face. He tried to help her up, but she wouldn't have any of it. Madam Pince came to look her over, but she was fine so the game quickly resumed.  
Cho flew off for one side of the field and Harry quickly followed suit, taking off in the opposite direction.  
"Spinnet has the Quaffle- passes to Johnson who passes to Bell- Back to Johnson. Whoa, rapid fire. Pass back to Bell- Oh no! Quaffle is intercepted by Haferty. He flies back to other end of the pitch- thrown to Boot. Aaaaand- Ravenclaw scores. The game is tied, 70 to 70."  
Harry was flying purposefully again. He soared higher and higher in the air. Cho was going up, too. They went upwards until they were just specks in the air.  
"The Snitch s'never up that far," reasoned Hagrid. "Wha's Harry playin' at?"  
Even on the Ominoculars it was hard to make them out. They were chasing back and forth. And, even though Daisy knew they were both experienced fliers, they looked ridiculous. Perhaps the wind was throwing them off, she thought.  
Fred was flying higher to keep the Bludgers from reaching Harry. But Harry was diving again, Cho following behind. Daisy could suddenly see the Snitch. It was diving as fast as the Firebolt, but in a straight line. It was 50 feet ahead of Harry when Fred saw it. And it hit him right in the head. He bent forward, putting his hands over his head in surprise, right as a Bludger whizzed by where his head had just been. Harry and Cho pulled out of their dives and dodged the Bludger.  
Madam Hooch blew her whistle. The Snitch had disappeared and everyone was drifting toward the ground. Fred was rubbing his head, but otherwise he looked okay. The team was crowding around.  
Daisy replayed the scene on the Ominoculars. "Snitchnip - Non-Seeker foul"  
"A lucky Bludger miss by Gryffindor beater Fred Weasley, after being attacked by the Golden Snitch. And a time out is called." The Gryffindor team was discussing with Madam Pince. They all looked mad.  
"A penalty shot to Ravenclaw for Snitchnip!" Madam Hooch snapped. Loud booing echoed through the stand. It was heard even through the wind as Terry Boot lined up for a shot.  
  
"A completely unfair penalty is called on Gryffindor for having their Beater get bludgeoned by the Snitch," said Lee in a huff.  
"Jordan!" warned McGonagall who monitored his commentary to make sure he didn't get out of control.  
"Sorry Professor. Ravenclaw gets a free shot."  
"JORDAN!" McGonagall said again.  
"Fine. Ravenclaw shot for alleged Snitchnip. Boot carries the Quaffle and throws. And it's saved by Gryffindor Keeper Weasley with an excellent move!" Just then a huge gust of wind blew nearly everyone off course. Even Harry's Firebolt swayed a little, but then he started flying as fast as he could, though he was against the wind.  
It wasn't letting up, and most players were fighting to keep on their brooms. Cho, who was on the other side of the pitch, began zooming towards the spot Harry was going, the wind to her back. She had a mad glint in her eyes.  
Harry flattened himself against his broom handle, trying to keep going. The wind was barely allowing him to keep up and they were both gaining on the Snitch at dangerously equal rates. George shot a Bludger at Cho in effort to throw her off, but the wind blew it away. Harry reached out his arm, but it was no use. Cho was closer. Her arm snaked forward. She was three feet from the snitch.  
Suddenly, the wind changed. Cho was blown backward, and Harry had an extra boost of speed. He closed his fingers around the golden ball.  
"He did it!" cried Hermione. "He caught the Snitch. We've won!"  
"And Gryffindor wins 220 points to 70!" Lee Jordan said.  
Daisy and Hermione hurried to rush the pitch and see Harry and Ron. Harry had a broad smile on his face. It was the happiest Daisy had ever seen her brother.  
"You were brilliant!" she told him. "That Wronski Feint."  
"That was great. I've wanted to try that since the World Cup!" he was out of breath and exhilarated. He grinned; his cheeks were pink from the rush.  
"And when you caught the snitch!" Hermione said excitedly. "I thought for sure the wind." Daisy glanced at the Weasleys. She saw Fred, somehow she could tell him apart from his twin. He was also keyed up. Daisy's stomach jumped up and down. She could see Fred's biceps through his scarlet Quidditch robes. He was well-conditioned from training with the Beater club, but even more so than George.  
Daisy also saw Ron. He was looking at Hermione in a lost sort of way. She was still noting Harry's superior Seeker performance.  
Daisy walked over to them. "That was great Keeping, Ron," she told him.  
He blushed a little. "Thanks," he replied, grinning at the attention.  
"How's you're head, Fred?" she inquired.  
"Does it look dented?" he asked playfully.  
"Lucky you ducked," Daisy said.  
"I know it. Those Bludgers give no mercy," said Fred.  
"Some penalty though," George muttered angrily. "Snitchnip! The Snitch went right for him."  
"Maybe the Bludgers are giving it ideas," Fred suggested.  
"Well, Ron took care of that shot, anyway," George said. He beamed proudly at his brother. "He's a brick wall." Ron was blushing redder than his hair now.  
  
The first matches of the Dueling tournament started that afternoon. Ron and Hermione had signed up as well as Davey, Alana Malfoy, Jasmine Ali, and Lavender.  
Hermione's match was the earliest that the gang went to. Her opponent was Lavender. The match was held outside on the grounds with the castle shielding them from the wind. It had died down a bit, but it was still there. Daisy sat with Ron and Harry on the grassy sidelines as the match began.  
Professor Flitwick, the referee of the match signaled the duelers to start. They bowed and raised their wands. Their goal was to disarm their opponent after successfully cursing them twice. "One.Two.Three!"  
"Rictusempra!" cried Lavender just as Hermione yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" Lavender became rigid on her feet, locked in the full Body- Bind. Hermione doubled up laughing. She had been hit by a tickling charm. She sank to her knees and pointed her wand for a shrieking spell. Still stiff, Lavender's mouth popped open wide and let out a high pitched scream.  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione gasped. Lavender's wand shot out of her tight grip and landed on the grass.  
"Finite Incantatem!" Flitwick said. Hermione stopped laughing and Lavender became limber and silent again. They got to their feet.  
"Miss Granger wins the match."  
  
The Gryffindor common room that night was a party. Everyone was discussing or debating dueling and the Quidditch match, especially Harry's amazing Snitch capture. Everybody bragged about their duels. Davey had won his, but Ron hadn't been so lucky. That meant that Seamus Finnigan, his opponent, would have to face Hermione next.  
Fred and George had lifted a keg of butterbeer from the kitchens and were passing it around. Fred headed towards Daisy with a mug. Her stomach flip-flopped. She accepted the drink and took a sip.  
"That'll be ten galleons," Fred said. Daisy almost spat it out. Then she got it. A joke. She was a very literal person.  
"Very funny," she said, forcing the butterbeer down her throat. Normally sarcasm annoyed her, but with Fred she didn't mind. He got her every time, though.  
"So, do you like Quidditch now?" asked Fred, smiling.  
"Of course," Daisy replied, "How could I not with such good-looking, er, skill." She felt a tight knot of apprehension at her slip. She'd almost said "good-looking players." Fred raised his eyebrows then shrugged.  
"Well, I must spread the joy," he said, gesturing to the keg. "See you later."  
"Bye!"  
  
A/N: Ahhh! Fred. He's my favorite. ; ) 


	11. Trust

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Ten: Trust  
  
Daisy sat in the back of perhaps the most boring Transfiguration class she'd ever had pretending to take notes. Really she was daydreaming and doodling all over her parchment. Outside, the first snow of the year was swirling to the ground bringing the feel of Christmas to the air.  
The night before, Dumbledore had announced that in honor of Cedric Diggory an annual Cedric Diggory Yule Ball was being founded, starting this year. It was scheduled for Christmas night. Daisy wondered if she would go with anyone, or if anyone would ask her. She didn't think Ron would because Fred had hinted that he might like Hermione, but she wasn't sure how that would work out with Hermione's feelings for Harry.  
She looked down at the mess that she had scrawled with her owl feather quill. In the jumble she could see the word Fred materializing from the tip of her quill. She blushed and crumpled her parchment into a ball abruptly, earning a critical look from Professor McGonagall.  
  
At lunch all anybody talked about was the ball. Ron said that last year neither he nor Harry had a very good experience with it, but they were going to give it another shot. Hermione kept darting her eyes over at Harry, and Fred began to act very strange. Over the past few weeks they had seen each other more and more. She knew what he was normally like, and this wasn't it, even Ron agreed.  
Lavender was going with Seamus Finnigan, apparently for the second year in a row. Parvati made a point of announcing to Harry that she was going with Dean Thomas. Parvati went with Harry last year, and Hermione told Daisy that Harry had completely ignored her.  
Davey wondered if he should ask Jasmine Ali. He would love to go with her but, what if she said no? He didn't think he could bear it.  
When Professor McGonagall came to collect names of those who were staying at school over the holidays, Daisy signed up realizing that there was no where to go home to. This made her feel terribly depressed. A year ago she would have opened presents under the Christmas tree with her parents. The idea that she would never share another Christmas or birthday or holiday with her parents was starting to fully hit her. She may never even see Godric's Hollow again.  
As the holidays began everyone seemed to be on an emotional low. Maggie went home in hopes of "more excitement." Hermione admitted that she felt like Harry was just ignoring her. She wanted somebody, anybody, to pay attention to her. Even Snape didn't seem up to take off the usual loads of points from Gryffindor. Dumbledore seemed to notice this and scheduled a trip to Hogsmeade, the nearby wizarding village.  
Daisy, Ron, Harry, and Hermione got set to leave and were waiting with everyone, but the carriages were late.  
"This is so weird," Hermione said. "This happened on the first day of school, too. The carriages never did show up and we had to ride the boats to the school year by year."  
"Really?" Daisy asked remembering that night. They had to wait quite a while for everyone to get there.  
"You'd think they'd have settled everything by now," Hermione said. Harry looked far away and Ron looked a little greenish.  
"Are you okay, Ron?" Daisy asked. "Maybe you should stay here."  
"No, I'm fine," he said, his voice cracking. Daisy looked him over.  
"Alright," she said, giving in.  
"Attention students!" said McGonagall holding a magical megaphone. "There has been a change of plans. Instead of riding in carriages to Hogsmeade we will be taking the boats as at the beginning of the year. Please break into groups of Houses."  
"Wonder what could have happened this time?" Hermione said. No one else was particularly talkative. They moved to join a mob of other Gryffindors when McGonagall yelled, "Gryffindors first, please!" She looked extremely stressed and irritable.  
The four of them selected a boat and rode across the lake towards Hogsmeade in silence.  
They walked the crowded streets in an awkward quiet. Something seemed to be wrong with Harry, and Ron and Hermione were trying to be nice, but Daisy didn't know what was up. Ron still looked ill. Daisy was a little worried about him.  
"Maybe we should stop at." Daisy looked around the street and her eyes stopped at a pub, "The Three Broomsticks for, er, a butterbeer," she suggested.  
"That's a good idea," Hermione said and they walked towards the door. As they entered, Ron stopped abruptly.  
"Hermione, could I have a word with you, um, outside, right now?" he said looking paler than ever.  
"Sure," she replied, looking confused, and they slipped through the door leaving Harry and Daisy alone. They went to the bar and ordered some butterbeer. After they brought it back to a table and sat down facing each other, there was an uncomfortable pause. Daisy glanced out the window. She couldn't see Ron or Hermione anywhere.  
"So." she started. Be the best covert sister you can, she reminded herself. She had no idea what to talk about. "Do you usually stay over the holidays?"  
"Always," he said looking into her green eyes with his identical ones in his usual confused look. "You couldn't pay me to spend Christmas with the Dursleys."  
"Who?" Daisy asked. He'd never mentioned any Dursleys.  
"My aunt and uncle and cousin, Dudley. They're muggles and hate everything to do with magic or me. I grew up with them, but I've never missed them once." We have family, Daisy thought, but they're awful. Good thing Sirius told her not to tell everyone who she was. Forget Voldemort, she'd have to live with the Dursleys.  
"What about your family?" he asked. Daisy thought about this for awhile. She wanted to tell him so badly that he was her family. Her only family.  
"Well I was adopted by muggles, but they died this summer," she said slowly. "I don't know where I'll end up this summer; I don't have any other adopted family. I don't even remember my biological parents."  
Harry's eyes were sad and deep. "Me neither," he said. "Except for the dementors. They make me remember when they died. I hear their voices; they're trying to save me." Their eyes locked, there was a strong connection. A twin connection, Daisy thought.  
Harry's forehead wrinkled in another memory. "I hear Voldemort laughing. Everyone thinks Sirius helped him, you know, Sirius Black." Daisy nodded, her heart beating fast at his mention. Did Sirius tell Harry that she was his sister? "But he didn't. Peter Pettigrew did."  
Daisy knew this already, but Harry had never said anything about it to her before.  
"I didn't let them kill him, so he went back to Voldemort. I don't know what they're doing, but sometimes it's all I can think about." He was rambling on so Daisy could barely follow. In his eyes, he looked scared, relieved too for telling someone about it. "And Sirius, he's my godfather; we're helping him stay on the run. He's a good person, but he hasn't written for weeks. I'm not sure if something has happened or what?"  
Daisy thought back. Sirius didn't write all the time, but it was true that he had taken longer than usual to reply. She hoped nothing had happened to him, for his sake and hers. He was her Secret-Keeper. She didn't know what to say to Harry without letting something slip, so she kept silent trying to do her best to look surprised.  
"I never really told anyone about this before. I mean, Hermione and Ron know, and Dumbledore, but you're one of us now, I guess. We trust you. You deserve to know."  
Daisy blinked. He trusted her! She was being a great sister. They could both feel the twin link, even if Harry didn't know what it was. He looked at her with a new realization, Daisy noticed. Maybe he'd figured it out on his own, even through the spell.  
"Daisy?" he said quietly. She looked back at him and smiled big.  
"Yes?" she said nervously. Things would change a lot if people knew the truth. Maybe she didn't want him to know. Sirius said it wasn't safe anyway.  
"Will you go to the ball with me?" Harry asked clearly. Daisy's mouth fell open. That came out of nowhere. I guess he didn't figure out that I'm his sister, she thought. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she couldn't date her brother. It was too wrong. How could she possibly turn him down without explaining everything?  
"S-someone already asked me t-to go. I'm sorry," she stuttered. She hoped he couldn't see through her. She had better find a date now.  
"Oh," he said blankly. "Of course. The ball's in a week." He looked down.  
Daisy felt stupid for thinking he had figured it out. Of course he hadn't. Sirius said the spell couldn't be broken. She had just never thought of Harry that way. He had been her brother almost since she'd met him. She'd never expected him to feel any other way for her.  
The door opened and in came Ron and Hermione. Their cheeks were very pink, Ron's were positively red, from cold. They spotted Harry and Daisy and came to sit with them. Ron looked over at Harry and winked. He smiled back weakly.  
"Butterbeer?" Daisy suggested getting up. She wanted to get away from the scene. Hermione slid into the spot Daisy was just in, and Daisy went to the bar.  
  
Later that week, Daisy tied a letter to Hibou's leg in the Owlery.  
"Tell me if you can't find him, okay?" Daisy asked. She had written to Sirius to ask if everything was alright and to tell him that Harry had told her about him. Hibou flew out the window into the flurry.  
Daisy saw the familiar red head through the rafters. She knew it was Fred this time. She walked over to him.  
"Hi, Fred," she said. He was sitting under a window between two rows of nests. He seemed to be thinking very hard.  
"I'm George," he said. Daisy looked at him more carefully. This was definitely Fred, she just knew it.  
"No you're not," Daisy said wondering what was up.  
"How can you tell?" Fred asked.  
"I just know," Daisy replied. They were identical, but something about Fred made him stand out to her.  
"Well you're the only one," he said almost bitterly. "Even the teachers think we're just the Weasley twins, they don't even bother to call us Fred or George. Everyone thinks we're exactly the same," he sighed. Daisy had never seen him in this sullen mood before. She wanted him to be happy and funny.  
"You're not," Daisy claimed, sitting down on the cold floor beside him.  
"Name two things different about us," he challenged. Daisy knew at least ten. She didn't mean to, but she secretly compared the twins all the time, usually to Fred's favor.  
"Well you're more sarcastic, and, well, reckless," she said not skipping a beat.  
Fred stared at her. "No one has ever said something like that before." Daisy blushed. "You're an only child right?" Fred asked.  
Not exactly, she thought. "Yes."  
"You don't know what it's like," he said, "having all these brothers. It's like we have to prove ourselves or something. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be just me." He looked down again.  
"I think you'd feel like you were getting enough recognition from everyone, but you'd still wonder what it would be like to have a brother. Sometimes you'd want one so bad, because you know they would be there for you no matter what, and you for them too." Daisy said. She didn't know how much she felt that way until she'd said it. She really wanted Harry, and everyone else, to know who she really was.  
"Some friends will do that for you, too, you know," said Fred. He looked up at Daisy and her heart melted.  
"Will you go to the ball with me?" she blurted out. She hadn't meant to ask him, but he didn't look disgusted or anything. He looked taken aback.  
"Yes I will," he said and smiled. He got to his feet. "Can I walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?"  
Daisy looked at his eyes to see if he was kidding. He wasn't. She held out her hand, and he took it, pulling her to her feet. They walked back to Gryffindor Tower together. 


	12. The Ball

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Eleven: The Ball  
  
On Christmas morning Daisy woke up to the sound of ripping paper.  
"What are you doing?" she asked yawningly. She sat up and pulled back her curtain. Her vision was blurry so she grabbed for the spare glasses which she kept on her bedside table. Then she saw a small heap of presents at the foot of her bed.  
"We're opening presents, Stupid!" Parvati said. "What else would we be doing on Christmas?"  
"Merry Christmas, Hermione!" Daisy said. She had gotten presents for everyone at Hogsmeade, but she hadn't put them at the foot of their beds. The only present she'd arranged to send was a letter and package of magical candy to Nellie at the orphanage.  
"Thanks for this book of curses. I know I'll use this for the match tomorrow!" Hermione said. Apparently someone else had taken care of delivering presents.  
Daisy took a look at her own presents and began to unwrap. From Harry there was a sack of Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Ron gave her a set of quills. There was a book called Hogwarts, a History from Hermione and Davey gave her a book full of dragon photographs. Professor McKinnon gave her a book called Study Tips. Perhaps the best and most unexpected present was from Fred. It was a box full of trick items. He and George were planning to open a joke shop after Hogwarts, and these were their ideas.  
When they went for breakfast, the Great Hall was nearly filled as usual. Not many people went home over the break because of the ball. Hermione wondered if they'd ever have another quiet Christmas holiday again at Hogwarts.  
Ron and Harry were sitting in their usual place at the Gryffindor table. Hermione sat down stealthily next to Ron trying not to grin like a fool. When Ron had asked to speak to her at Hogsmeade, he was really asking her to go to the ball with him. Harry had also found a date: Ginny Weasley.  
"Morning, Herm," said Ron, his ears turning pink.  
"Morning, Ron," she replied. Harry looked very down. Ever since Daisy had turned him down at Hogsmeade, he was low, though Daisy liked to think it had more to do with Sirius. He looked like he needed a game of Quidditch. Ron and Hermione were still babbling at each other, making Daisy sick.  
"Do you guys want a game of Quidditch?" she asked. Harry perked up. Daisy knew she would probably fall off her broom, but if she kept low, it wouldn't hurt too much and Harry would be happy.  
Ron caught Harry's eye and sensing his lifted spirits, nodded. "I'll play," he said.  
"I'm in," Harry said eagerly.  
They turned to Hermione, she looked nervous. "All right. I'm coming."  
On the way to the pitch, they picked up Fred and George to play too. As the boys unlocked the broom case, Daisy and Hermione went to borrow some of the old school brooms. Daisy's broom had a large chunk missing and Hermione's broomtail was losing fiber by the moment, but they agreed that their flying wouldn't be any better with a Firebolt.  
On the pitch, Fred and George were lugging the case of balls to the center.  
"Okay," said Harry. "We'll play three on three. Two Chasers and a Keeper, but we can switch off."  
"Yeah!" said George. "We'll play to seventy points a game."  
"All right," Fred said. "George, Daisy, and I will be on one team, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione can be on the other." Hermione caught Daisy's eye to see if it was okay, but Daisy nodded gleefully.  
They formed their teams, and started to talk strategy.  
"Daisy, you can play Keeper first, okay?" George said, trying to sound kind.  
Fred gave him a look. "We'll switch off later though," he said.  
Daisy smiled, and felt tingly. "That's fine with me," she said. They mounted their brooms and took off. Daisy flew to the goalposts she was defending. Ron was defending the other side. Harry had the Quaffle and was flying towards her. He came and Daisy prepared to save, pacing back and forth. She usually played forward in soccer, but every once and a while she'd sub in for her team's goalie. She concentrated on the Quaffle and everything started going in slow motion. Her mind was set on one thing: capturing the ball. Harry flung the Quaffle, and Daisy caught it in her arms.  
Her mind cleared and in her excitement, she started flying around the goalpost in celebration, still holding the Quaffle. Her victory lap abruptly ended when her broom ran right into one of the cold metal goalposts. She clung to her broom in attempt to stay airborne. By the time she got control, Fred had flown by her.  
"Nice save," he said sincerely. "Can we have the Quaffle?"  
"Sure," Daisy replied, blushing. She held out the red leather ball and retreated to the goalposts.  
As the game went on, Ron and Harry eventually put seven shots, winning the game. Before they started another game Fred called out to George.  
"Want a turn at Keeper?" he shouted.  
George frowned but answered, "All right, mate. But you're next." He flew over to Daisy and slapped her hand. "You're in," he said.  
Daisy took a deep breath and flew very slowly to the center of the pitch to meet Fred who had the Quaffle.  
"Now that we're all ready," said Ron smirking, "let's play!"  
"Amen," Harry murmured, but Fred had zoomed towards their goalposts, the Quaffle under his arm. Daisy flew cautiously after him and Ron and Harry began to chase at a better pace. Daisy spent much of her time turning around and having them whiz past her. But once as Harry zoomed by over her head he dropped the Quaffle and Daisy found it in her hands. She started flying nervously towards Hermione at the goalposts. Fred was flying at her side. He looked out for Harry and Ron, and got in the way when they came along. He didn't ask for Daisy to pass, and she was only half scared about it. Most people wouldn't give her a chance when it was competitive.  
When she finally made it to Hermione and the goalposts, she realized she'd have to throw. She thought of the three years she played basketball with Lavender, up until she left for Hogwarts. Using both hands she shot, up and over. Hermione made a valiant effort to save but the Quaffle went through.  
Fred flew up beside her and gave her a high five, but Daisy, who wasn't used to flying one handed, fell forward. She screamed slightly, but fortunately Fred was there to catch her. For a second he held her while she calmed down before he helped her back onto her broom.  
Daisy felt very foolish and she could tell her cheeks were reddening, but she did her best to keep up the rest of the game. In the end, Fred scored his sixth point, and their team had won.  
Hermione flew forward and Harry went to the goalposts.  
"Hey, Daisy," she said.  
"Yeah?" asked Daisy.  
"I need to go up to the dormitory. Will you come with me?"  
"Of course," Daisy said. She wondered if something was wrong. "Just let me say goodbye to Fred." Fred was taking his turn at Keeper. She flew to him.  
"Herm and I are going, okay," she said.  
"Sure," he replied, "why?"  
"I dunno. Hermione wants me to come; I think something's the matter with her."  
"Okay," he said. "I'll see you tonight, then?"  
"Yeah," Daisy said, smiling at the thought. "Bye."  
"Bye," Fred said. Daisy flew down to Hermione, who was waiting by the locker rooms.  
When they were safely in Gryffindor tower behind the door of their dorm room Daisy sat on her bed and Hermione was rummaging through her trunk. Daisy looked at her and asked, "Why did we come up so early? Is there something wrong?"  
"No," Hermione assured. "Not at all. I just need to use this," she said, holding out a hot pink bottle. Daisy grabbed it from her and read: Sleekeasy's Hair Potion.  
"It takes forever, so I only use it on special occasions. I just didn't think you wanted to stay there alone with the boys," she explained. Daisy handed the bottle back. She did kind of want to stay with the boys; she could barely get the picture of flying side by side with Fred, him trusting her completely with the Quaffle, out of her head. On the other hand, Hermione wasn't often girly, so Daisy thought she'd make the best of it.  
Hermione squeezed loads of the potion onto her hair, and worked it until it was an elegant perfectly arranged twist on the back of her head. Daisy decided to wear her hair down, but she did borrow a few drops of Sleekeasy's to keep it in check. They raided Daisy's makeup supplies, for Hermione had only lip balm, and had fun making each other over.  
Last, Daisy slipped her yellow dress robes over the white tank top and shorts she was wearing. They appraised themselves in the mirror, and found themselves pleasing. Hermione, Daisy thought, looked especially nice. Her sky periwinkle robes seemed to be made for her and her makeup wasn't bad either. She sure polished up well. Ron wouldn't be able to help feeling lucky.  
Daisy hoped she looked pretty, too, but with ten minutes before eight, she didn't have time to make a decision.  
"Let's go," she whispered gave Hermione a secret mission look. They giggled all the way down the staircase to meet their dates.  
"What's up with you?" asked Harry. Neither Ginny, Ron, nor Fred was present.  
"Nothing," they said before cracking into a set of giggles. Harry was wearing green robes that matched his eyes. He looked sort of nervous.  
"You both look nice," he said politely. Daisy looked to see what Hermione's reaction would be.  
"Thanks. You do too," she said formally. That went fast, Daisy thought. All Ron had to do was ask Hermione out and she forgot all about her brother. She tried not to act too sisterly or protective so she changed the subject.  
"I wonder what those Weasleys are up to. Family meeting?" she said. But then they came, walking down the stairs in a troupe, first Ginny, then Ron, George, and Fred. Daisy smiled hugely without actually meaning to. Fred was looking nicer than ever. He was wearing robes of red, and he grinned confidently at her. Ron looked pleasantly shocked at Hermione, and Harry was smiling sheepishly at a star struck Ginny. George met Katie Bell, the Gryffindor chaser, at the bottom of the stairs.  
They chatted as they walked down to the Entrance Hall in a group. A crowd was gathered at the door of the Great Hall. Unexpectedly the door burst open and a loud song began. The frost covered walls exaggerated imposing looking icicles protruding from the ceiling.  
"Wicked!" someone cried out. The whole of the school seemed to be rushing to squeeze through the doors. Fred caught Daisy's eye then grabbed her arm. They fought and elbowed their way through the mass and were some of the first people inside.  
They laughed hard, looked at each other, then started dancing wildly. Fred twirled her around and they spun out together. Daisy was reminded of the swing dance lessons she took once when she was little, only this was much more fun.  
The band stopped playing after the first song, and Daisy looked up to see why. What she saw were eight very hairy women, maybe, dressed in ragged black robes. They held various instruments. Some had the basic guitar and drums, but the others had instruments like bagpipes or a lute.  
"Those are the Weird Sisters," Fred whispered. His volume was accredited to the fact that the entire room was going quiet and looking at Dumbledore. He was sat at the high table with the rest of the staff.  
"Welcome to the Cedric Diggory Yule Ball! Let's take a moment to remember Cedric and what he symbolizes." Everyone in the hall went deadly quiet, even the first years, allowed to come to the ball this year. Many bowed their heads sadly. After a minute or two, Dumbledore spoke again. "Tonight is not a night for sorrow. Tonight will be a time to rejoice in the life that Cedric lived and the lives that you are living now. Enjoy your time at Hogwarts, especially the scrumptious food you're about to consume. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll bring out the tables."  
Everyone backed away from the center and Dumbledore flicked his wand. About a hundred small tables flew to the center of the room. Daisy could see that on each table there were several menus.  
Dumbledore stood over his plate looked down and said, "Chicken!" Daisy watched, interested, as a chicken dinner appeared on his plate. Not many seemed very impressed, though.  
"That's how they did it last year," Hermione said. Conversations began to break out through the hall. The small tables seated about six people.  
"This is stupid," Fred said to everyone. "Let's just push a few together." The group nodded in approval while Harry and the twins shoved two tables together. Fred plopped down in one chair and Daisy sat nervously in the one next to him. Ginny and Harry small talked awkwardly.  
George looked down at his plate and said, "Calamari." Sure enough, the fried squid appeared on his plate.  
The group stared at it mutely until Fred looked at his own plate and repeated, "Calamari!"  
Everyone laughed and soon there was tentacled seafood on everyone's dish. They gobbled it down gratefully.  
"I wonder if they got the Giant Squid from the lake to make this," Ginny said suddenly.  
Everybody stopped mid-chew. The Giant Squid was scary, but no one had ever considered catching it to rid the lake. It was a part of Hogwarts, like a friend.  
"I'm done," said about four of them, pushing their plates away.  
"Me too," said the rest. Again they all cracked up and got to their feet. They waited for the floor to be cleared. Finally Dumbledore waved his wand and the tables disappeared.  
The Weird Sisters started another song, heavily embedded with bagpipes, but sure enough the guitars and drums joined right in after a few beats.  
"Shall we?" asked Fred. Daisy grinned at him and took his hand.  
"Sure," she said, pulling him, though she didn't have to try too hard, to the dance floor. They started again with their wild swing and danced away.  
When the music slowed a little, Daisy considered taking a break, but when she looked at Fred, whose eyes were innocently expectant, she decided to stay.  
She put her hands on his shoulders and they began to rock back and forth silently. Daisy avoided his eyes and didn't say anything. Before, they were laughing and talking, but now they just stayed where they were together. When the song ended they slowly pulled apart and looked at each other again.  
Daisy blushed. "Should we sit down for a while?" she suggested.  
"Sounds like a plan," Fred replied. They headed towards a corner where a few tables remained. The group had set up base here, but only Ron and Harry were left.  
Fred and Daisy sat beside them and said, "Where're Ginny and Hermione?"  
"They've been recruited," Ron said bitterly. "Lavender ran off and Seamus couldn't find her, so he asked them to help. I don't blame Lavender for leaving, the way he was flirting with my sister," he said edgily, as if it were a sin beyond compare. He didn't seem to mind when Harry had asked her out, but he continued his rant. "I bet he's probably just trying to talk to Ginny some more!"  
Fred rolled his eyes. "Ginny won't let him do anything. She's all for Harry, you know. She's probably just searching like she's supposed to be."  
"Where are they looking anyway?" Daisy asked.  
"Outside. They have it all set up as a garden again," Harry said.  
Just then, Angelina Johnson, the Gryffindor chaser, walked up looking mad. "Can I speak with you, Fred?" she asked, or rather, demanded.  
"Sure, Angelina," Fred said. He made a face that was a mixture of "What did I do?" and "I'm screwed!" He scraped his chair on the floor as he got up and followed Angelina to another table.  
Daisy surveyed Ron and her brother. They looked blank. Maybe she and Fred had interrupted something, and she had an idea what it was. "Have you heard from Sirius yet, Harry?" From their expressions, Daisy could tell that she had guessed correctly.  
"No," Harry said darkly. Daisy hadn't either. "I'm thinking of telling Dumbledore," Harry told her. Daisy had never actually considered going to Dumbledore about Sirius, though he said she could. She thought maybe it would be a good idea, but Harry could do it instead of her.  
"I think you should," Daisy said. She gave him a serious, encouraging look. "The sooner, the better," she added.  
"You're right," Harry said, getting up. "I'll do it right now."  
"I'm coming, too," said Ron, a look of determination on his face.  
They headed for the High Table and Daisy was left alone. She wondered where Fred was. What was Angelina saying? Daisy decided to casually walk past them to see what was going on.  
But, as she got there, she saw an angry red-faced Angelina and Fred looking very uncomfortable, almost defensive. She kept walking hearing only a, "What are you playing at?" from Fred.  
Instead of going back to the table to wait for Harry and Ron, she went outside to find Hermione and Ginny.  
Through the door it was frosty cold. Daisy wished she'd brought her cloak. The rosebushes, which had been recently put in, were glowing with magical light. Stone statues and benches were flanked by the shrubbery.  
The stars and moon shone brightly against the soft navy sky. Daisy saw the reflection of the moon in the smooth still lake. She watched it burn on until ripples began to form around the shape. Out of the water popped a long suckered tentacle.  
Daisy felt relieved, they hadn't eaten the Giant Squid for dinner. Just as she was thinking this, she saw something that struck her as odd, though she didn't know why. A single carriage, moving along with no horse to pull, was traveling along the grounds in the distance.  
But she didn't dwell on it for long, Hermione was calling for her.  
"Daisy? Is that you?" Daisy ran to meet her. She looked very concerned.  
"Have you seen Lavender?" she inquired. "We've been looking forever!"  
"Not at all," Daisy told her.  
"Seamus is really worried," Hermione said.  
"Maybe Ron is wrong then," said a voice behind them. They wheeled around to see who it was.  
It was Fred. The color of his face was a mixture of angry red flush and pale green nausea. "About Ginny, you know?" he said, his voice cracking. Angelina was nowhere in sight.  
"Oh," Daisy said.  
"Maybe you should let Lavender relax," Fred said. "You're neglecting your dates you know."  
Daisy smiled guiltily.  
"You're the one who left to socialize," Daisy said. "What did Angelina want anyway?"  
"Er. Quidditch," Fred said quickly. Daisy was positive Angelina wasn't talking about Quidditch, but she decided not to push it any farther. Obviously, it was personal and Fred didn't want her to know about it. Daisy didn't need to know anyway. She trusted Fred, at least about this kind of thing.  
"Shall we rescue my dear sister and catch some more dancing?" Fred offered, trying to recover.  
Daisy was so charmed that she forgot about Angelina. "Sure, but only because it's cold out here," Daisy said mockingly.  
"Touché," Fred said. "Now where's Ginny?"  
When they got back on the dance floor, they danced until midnight when the Weird Sisters played their last bagpipe note.  
Daisy was pretty wrapped up in dancing, but she did notice her friends every once and a while.  
Harry and Ginny shared a few cute dances and Ron and Hermione had gone off by themselves. Davey had plucked up the courage to ask Jasmine to go to the ball with him and she said yes. Her poofy cinnamon robes looked very cute and Davey seemed amazed by his luck every time he looked at her.  
When the dance was over Daisy was disappointed, but her pent up exhaustion began to show up.  
She and Fred walked back to Gryffindor tower arm in arm. At the bottom of the spiral staircase, George called for Fred to come over.  
"Well." he said slowly. Daisy looked sleepily up into his face.  
"You have nice eyes," she said without thinking. Her statement sunk in and she felt blood rushing to her face.  
But Fred's face remained straight. "I like your eyes, too," he said. "They're pretty. They kind of, um, sparkle." He blushed this time. Something in his expression changed. Daisy felt a little uncomfortable, but she didn't want him to leave yet, either.  
"Well." she repeated. But before she could finish her already incomplete thought, she found a pair of lips on her own.  
Fred leaned to reach her. Daisy breathed out slowly as they parted. They both looked down, ripe with pleasure and major embarrassment.  
"Goodnight Fred," she said after a while.  
"Night, Daisy," Fred replied. "Have good dreams." She was sure she would.  
"You, too," Daisy said quickly and bounded up the stairs. She heard George and his friends cheering and teasing Fred behind her. She couldn't wait to tell Hermione the details of her first kiss.  
But Hermione wasn't there, so Daisy went ahead to bed, an ecstatic feeling pounding through her heart. But after the lights were turned out and everyone was tucked in, Daisy didn't notice that one bed was empty. 


	13. The Dueling Tornament

Wow!! Thanks for reviewing Ashla86 and Twin Kats. Phredtheflyingmonkey, you're the best. You'll find out eventually what is going on with Angelina. This chapter is very long, so:  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Twelve: The Dueling Tournament  
  
"Incendio!" Hermione cried. The hem of Daisy's robes began to burn.  
"Hermione!" she exclaimed irritably, putting out the flame with her hand. There were now several bruises on her legs and painful cuts on her hands. "I said I'd help you duel, not I'd become your personal firewood!"  
They had made a deal in light of Daisy's upcoming mid-January second year exams. Hermione would help her master the spells if Daisy would help Hermione practice dueling. The match was on Sunday.  
Daisy sat down on the wooden floor of the empty classroom they were in.  
"You're right," Hermione said, sitting beside her. "I'm sorry. We should probably just take a break."  
"Sounds good to me," Daisy said. They had been dueling for over three hours. Daisy was a decent dueler, especially since she was good in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Hermione had more experience, and well, more power.  
They sat for a moment catching their breath before Daisy said, "So, how is it that you left the ball so early, but came back to the dorm after me?"  
Hermione, caught off guard, blushed crimson. "I was admiring the gardens," she muttered.  
"I see," Daisy said. "Did you meet anyone?" she asked with an innocent expression.  
"There were lots of people outside," Hermione insisted defensively.  
"Were any of them named Ron?" Daisy continued sweetly. Hermione turned purple.  
"I think we should go to the library to study your exams," she suggested.  
Daisy said nothing, but followed her toward the library casting curious looks her way.  
A distraught Parvati met them in the corridor. "Have you seen Lavender today?" she asked them.  
"No," both Daisy and Hermione answered straightforwardly, wanting to hurry along. They started for the library again.  
But Parvati stopped them. "Because I haven't seen her all day. I don't know if she even came back to the dorm. I know she wasn't with Seamus. She's never ignored me like this before."  
"It starts," Daisy said dryly.  
"What?" asked Parvati sharply, turning to stare Daisy in the face.  
"Have you gone to see Dumbledore yet?" Daisy replied critically.  
"No, I was just about to though, but I saw you and I thought I might ask," mumbled Parvati.  
"She's probably just still sore over Seamus," Hermione said. "If she'd just show up, he would apologize. He didn't want her to leave."  
"This isn't Lavender's fault," Parvati insisted. "She's just been going through a hard time lately."  
"What? Did her bunny die again?" Hermione asked skeptically.  
Parvati's eyes flashed like glinting daggers. "No," she said icily. "I'm not going to tell you. You don't deserve to know." With that she stalked away towards McGonagall's office to find the headmaster.  
Daisy looked over at Hermione. She looked about as guilty as Daisy felt. "I think we handled that in the worst way possible," she concluded.  
"That's true," Hermione agreed looking at Parvati's back sorrowfully. "I hope no one died."  
"I hope she's not abandoning Parvati for something else," Daisy said cloudily.  
Hermione raised her eyebrows. Daisy hadn't really explained her ex- friendship with Lavender to Hermione. She avoided the subject actually. They were civil, but Daisy was sure they'd never be friends like they had been.  
"We better get to the library," Hermione said. "Your animal transfiguration needs work. Maybe we could borrow Pigwideon."  
  
The day before break ended everyone who had gone home over the holidays returned on the Hogwarts Express. Maggie certainly looked happier than she had been.  
Hermione's match against Seamus was beginning in fifteen minutes. Lavender still hadn't shown up, and two other second years were missing. Dumbledore sent teams to look for them in the Forbidden Forest. People were starting to feel uneasy and suggested that the tournament should perhaps be cancelled in order to prevent anyone else from being lost.  
Dumbledore, however, maintained that the tournament should continue to help the students learn to defend themselves. In fact, he moved all the match dates closer together so that the tournament would be over by the end of the month.  
Though nearly everyone was in agreement that someone, maybe even Voldemort, was behind the disappearances, Parvati naturally blamed Seamus for making Lavender run away. But, as she was still mad at Hermione, too, she didn't plan on cheering for anyone. On the contrary, she was prepared to boo as loudly as possible at both duelers.  
The matches were taking place inside this time, as it was too cold outside. Hermione and Seamus's match was one of the many being held on the Great Hall's stage.  
A few rows of chairs had been set up before it and Daisy sat in the front. Harry was on her left and Fred sat on her right, his fingers entwined with hers discreetly.  
They had watched Ginny defeat her opponent in the previous match. Hermione was sitting in a chair on one end of the stage and Seamus faced her in a chair of his own across the room.  
Again, Flitwick was refereeing the match. He cleared his little throat and stated, "The match will begin in a few moments. Duelers, please take your positions."  
Hermione stood, synchronized with Seamus. They placed their wands to their noses. Ron, who was sitting on Harry's other side, clenched his fists. There were a variety of reasons that Ron passionately wanted Seamus to meet defeat. For one, Seamus was dueling his girlfriend. It was treason to not at least outwardly want Hermione to win. Unless of course it was someone like Harry she was facing, only then could Ron be politely neutral. But Harry was not her opponent because Harry hadn't entered.  
Another reason that Ron wanted Seamus eliminated was that he was still bitter that Seamus had beaten him in the last match. And he was also not very happy that Seamus had his eyes on his little sister.  
But Daisy secretly thought it was probably a good thing that Ron had been beaten. If he had won, he would be the one attempting to curse Hermione. That would put them in a very awkward position especially if Daisy's suspicions, that they had been sneaking off and snogging regularly, were true.  
Ron and Hermione seemed to be very happy in the five days or so, so far, that they had been a couple. Hermione actually seemed to have forgotten about Harry.  
Harry was the only one who hadn't found love over Christmas. Even though Ginny fancied him in a painfully obvious way, things hadn't worked out. Harry didn't seem to want a girlfriend at the moment, so Daisy tried not to feel too sorry for him. But it was hard as Daisy had someone to stroke his thumb along the curve of her hand and Harry was sitting next to Ron.  
Flitwick cleared his throat again. "Bow to your opponent." Hermione and Seamus bowed at a friendly incline. "Wands at the ready. One. Two. Three!"  
Hermione swung her wand down and before Seamus could utter anything at all she cried, "Taceo!" She relaxed a little. Seamus opened his mouth, but no sound immersed. His lips flapped like a fish, but he couldn't say a word.  
Daisy hadn't gone over this spell with Hermione, but it was brilliant. She must have looked it up in her new book.  
Now, the only task at hand was to hit Seamus three more times (the new rule) and disarm.  
Seamus, angry and red faced apparently did not know the counter- curse. He strode forward trying to be humorous and non-caring and spread open his arms exposing himself mock-dramatically. Everyone could tell by his clenched teeth that he really did care. It was all Ron could do to keep from bursting out in laughter.  
Hermione sent three well chosen spells from her wand in rapid fire. "Jelly Legs, Blastono, Incendio." And then after Seamus had knelt shakily, been blasted backward, and set afire, Hermione took a breath and cried, "Expelliarmus!"  
"Finite Incantantem." Seamus stood wimpily. Dean, his only fan, flinched and tried to look encouraging.  
"Miss Granger wins the match," exclaimed Flitwick. Hermione smiled widely and rushed to her waiting friends. They got to their feet to congratulate her. Ron slipped his arm around her almost naturally. Fred and Daisy's hands had separated in the jumble and Fred made no movement to reclaim Daisy's. But Daisy was too happy for her friend to be jealous.  
"That was excellent, Hermione, just perfect!" she squealed. "All my bruises are not in vain."  
They all laughed, even Harry.  
  
The next day was Monday, meaning back to lessons. Daisy's second year classes were much harder than the first year ones and though her wand-booms had reached a minimum, she was sure she would only pass because she had put in overtime on the specific exam spells.  
This morning, Daisy was in Potions making a swelling solution. The second years around her were discussing their missing peers fearfully.  
"Do you s'pose You-Know-Who really had something to do with it?" Dennis Creevey asked the small group of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.  
"It's possible," replied Owen Cauldwell. "Kevin was smart, but You- Know-Who even reeled in Harry Potter for God's sake." The group nodded. Most of them had grown up knowing Harry's name and story. Except the story they knew had left out one little detail. Daisy couldn't help feeling just a little envious.  
Laura Madley piped in. "Ooo, Stewart isn't very happy that Orla Quirke is gone. You should have seen him taking it out on Emma Dobbs in the duel yesterday." She shuddered.  
"The git's always fancied her," said Owen. "I just want to know who's behind it. I mean, who's next?"  
"What's all this chatter about," inquired an imposing Snape. The group went quiet. "A point from Hufflepuff and two points from Gryffindor. Now get to work," he growled.  
The students dutifully went to their cauldrons and the rest of the lesson was spent in uncomfortable silence.  
As Daisy left the dungeons to go to lunch, Hermione headed her off.  
"Lavender is back!" she exclaimed. She was panting from hurrying down to the dungeons with her usual pack of books.  
"What?" asked Daisy, surprised.  
"She just showed up in Transfiguration before anyone else," Hermione explained. They walked down the corridor. "She wouldn't say anything until McGonagall started grilling her. She only said that she was at Hogsmeade, but she wouldn't say anything about the second years. McGonagall got really mad and gave her detention for a week. She looks a mess really. I don't know how she's going to make it through Potions tonight."  
They had reached the Great Hall. "I wonder what's up with her," said Daisy.  
"Me too."  
  
"Students, students, please settle down!" cried Professor Flitwick. The third years around Daisy stopped chatting. Daisy passed her exams and was now attending third year classes.  
"Please listen up. This is very important," squeaked Flitwick. "Today we will be attempting a very advanced spell. Usually I only try this one on promising fifth year classes, but Professor Dumbledore thinks that all students should know it. Now," he paused for a moment, "you're all familiar with the summoning spell, Accio?"  
The students nodded in agreement.  
"You'll learn that one next year, but this spell is like it with one main exception. It is to summon a person rather than an object. A summoned person will know you need them and will come to your aid. That said, you are not to take this charm lightly. Use it only in an emergency." There was a tone of seriousness in his voice that had never been there before.  
Daisy remembered Halloween when she had summoned Dumbledore. It was very lucky that Flitwick had taught the fifth years this spell. Daisy shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if Lavender hadn't known the spell. They might still be in that closet, their skeletons at least.  
"May I have a volunteer?" asked Flitwick. Daisy knew better than to volunteer for a charms experiment, but a Hufflepuff boy risked it.  
"Thank you, Mr. Cook," Flitwick said. He closed his eyes and pulled out his wand. "Acciocuput Dale Cook!" he cried. Suddenly Dale stood up, plunked his way over to Flitwick's desk, and halted.  
"Excellent!" Flitwick said. "Did you feel the pull to follow the call?"  
"Yes," said the boy. "And I knew it was you! I mean I heard you say the spell, but I got this picture in my head of exactly where you were and how to get there."  
"Exactly," squeaked Professor Flitwick. "Thank you, Mr. Cook. Now, please get into pairs and try the spell." The students began to move into groups. "Remember, correct pronunciation is important: Ah-Chi-Oh-Cup-Put," said the professor slowly and clearly. "Now begin."  
Daisy found a girl in Ravenclaw to be her partner. They practiced by hiding behind desks and trying to find each other when summoned.  
  
Since Hermione's idea of using the silence curse, "taceo" the rules of the Dueling Tournament had been changed. No curses that make an opponent unable to speak were allowed.  
Hermione was not thrown off by this of course, which Daisy knew from helping her practice. Her new strategy was feasible and she was about to show the school.  
Her third match was scheduled to take place in the Great Hall again. She was facing a Ravenclaw named Terry Boot. This time Professor McGonagall was overseeing the match.  
Daisy, Harry and Ron sat together again. Fred couldn't come because he and George were up to some undisclosed business.  
"Bow to your opponent," Professor McGonagall ordered. Hermione bowed and Terry leaned over. He looked a little almost sickly green with fear. Daisy wondered how he'd made it this far.  
"Wands at the ready. One. Two. Three!"  
With a whoosh, Hermione's wand was pointed, not at Terry, but at herself.  
Terry was very fast. "Gelego!" he said. Hermione's knees sank limply, but she cried, "Protecto!" A shield of golden light surrounded Hermione's skin, making her seem to glow.  
Terry, not knowing what had happened, thought he had the perfect chance to get Hermione, now that she was distracted. He had already gotten her once, so he needed six more hits.  
But when he tried to curse her, the spell bounced off.  
"Fruitolio, juncos!" Hermione cried hitting her mark twice.  
Terry paced helplessly, shooting spells from his wand in hopes of a successful curse. It was useless. Hermione's shield was unfailing.  
Hermione, who was stuck in one place due to Jelly Legs, pivoted around on her waist, cursing Terry whenever he was in range.  
By the time she had only to curse Terry once more, she was gritting her teeth. The shield flickered every once and a while and her face was getting red. The yellow glow made her look orangey.  
"Limperutoo," gasped Hermione. Terry flew back. "Ex, Ex," Hermione started. "Expelliarmus!"  
Terry's wand flew from his hand and Hermione's shield went out completely.  
"Finite Incantantem!" cried Professor McGonagall hurriedly. "Ms. Granger wins the match." Hermione sank to the floor, crumpled. She had passed out.  
"Hermione!" Daisy and Ron yelled together, getting to their feet. Harry sat, looking shocked.  
"Sit down," McGonagall told them, hawk-like. She conjured a stretcher from thin air. "She will be fine. Just give her some space."  
"But Professor." Ron started.  
"Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall sharply. "I suggest you, Mr. Potter, and Ms. Peterson go back to your common room."  
Her wand-made stretcher floated toward the Hospital Wing. Daisy watched Hermione through the door. She looked awfully pale without her golden glow.  
  
An hour later, as they sat in front of the fire in the common room, Harry stood up. Ron and Daisy looked at him.  
"This is pointless," he said with finality. "I'm going to see her." They had been lounging in the red cushioned armchairs not really speaking, just squirming, and wondering if Hermione was alright.  
Daisy and Ron stood, too.  
"I'm not letting you alone with her," said Ron, only half joking.  
"I'm coming, too," Daisy put in. They pushed the portrait back and started for the Hospital Wing.  
On the way they met a pale blond boy flanked by two humongous companions. Something seemed very familiar.  
"Oh look," said the boy's drawling voice. "Potty and Weasel." His eyes darted over to Daisy. "And you," he said slowly. "My cousin's told me all about you. Look's like you've got competition, Potter."  
"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Harry spat.  
"For Dumbledore's favorite of course," Malfoy said smirking. "The rest of us actually had to do some work to pass all theses years of school." Daisy blushed. Malfoy's flunkies chuckled thickly.  
"Get out of our way, Draco," snarled Ron. "We don't need you wasting our time."  
"Off to see Granger?" Malfoy asked maliciously. "Seems she can't take a duel. It won't take a lot of effort to beat the little Mudblood next week."  
Ron lunged at Malfoy and neither Daisy nor Harry stopped him. Malfoy's friends momentarily peeled Ron off, but not before he had cut Malfoy's lip.  
"You'll pay for that one, Weasley," Draco hissed, checking his cut.  
"Let's just go, Ron," Daisy suggested. She wondered what a Mudblood was, and why it would upset Ron so much. She and Harry both grabbed Ron by his robes and pulled him along.  
Draco's eyes flashed as they passed. When they were out of earshot, Daisy looked at Harry, as Ron was still fuming, and asked, "Harry, what is a Mudblood?"  
Ron made a mad grunting noise. Harry glanced at him strangely before explaining. "It's a really, really mean name to call someone with muggle parents because they aren't pureblood."  
"Malfoy has it out for muggle borns, he always has," Ron said. "If he tries anything in that match, I'll."  
"Calm down, Ron," Harry said.  
"I've had about enough of him," Ron insisted.  
"Shh," Daisy said. They had reached the Hospital Wing. They opened the door and saw Hermione sitting in bed reading a book, looking quite healthy.  
At the noise at the door she looked up. "You finally made it up here. It took you ages to come see me."  
"Professor McGonagall told us to give you space." Daisy started, but Ron cut her off.  
"Are you alright, 'Mione?" he asked, running over to her.  
"I'm fine," she cried positively. She seemed surprised yet pleased at Ron's reaction. "It was just a complicated spell. Easily the hardest I've ever tried. but it worked all right, didn't it?"  
"Just don't do it again, okay?" pleaded Daisy.  
"I'll do anything to beat Malfoy," Hermione said, a glint in her eye.  
  
"How do you know these things?" Harry asked in disbelief. "We didn't find out you were facing Malfoy until the git told us on the way up here."  
"I have to keep up on my opposition. Especially for the championship," Hermione explained. They nodded in agreement.  
"When are you getting out of here?" Daisy posed.  
"The old bat is making me stay the night," Hermione said glancing at the office door reading: MADAM POMFREY  
Daisy had never been to the Hospital Wing before. There was a row of beds on each wall and several windows. Light was still shining through them, but by now the lanterns had also been lit.  
"Why?" asked Ron loudly. "You're fine, right? Right?" he asked again.  
  
"Yes. I just need to recharge or something. I'm not allowed to use magic for three days! Can you believe that?"  
"How are you going to do classes?" Daisy asked.  
"I dunno. I guess I'll just take notes. I can't fall behind," Hermione replied. Daisy could definitely not afford to fall behind at all. If she was going to pass the fifth year she needed to stay ahead, even. Hermione, however, could probably take a month off and still pass with all perfect marks.  
Ron restrained himself from making any comment about Hermione missing work, but Daisy could tell he was thinking along the same lines as she was. But, ever since the Yule Ball Ron tried not to make any rude remarks about Hermione's grades, as he knew it hurt her feelings. He was finding it increasingly harder, though. She just kept setting herself up.  
Just then an old witch bashed the door of the office open and stalked toward them. "Get out! Get out!" she cawed. "She needs rest!"  
Daisy looked over her shoulder at Harry and Ron, about to protest, but they were starting for the door.  
"Bye, Hermione," Daisy said unsurely and followed the boys out the door.  
"You don't want to mess with Madam Pomfrey about her patients," Harry said as they walked down the hall. "She's been known to curse when provoked."  
The next day, Hermione showed up for breakfast bright and early. Daisy walked into the Great Hall groggily. She had stayed up late into the night doing the homework she had forgotten about until after she returned to the dormitory after visiting Hermione.  
"The weirdest thing happened last night," Hermione said as soon as Daisy had staggered in, followed by Harry and Ron.  
They rubbed their eyes and tried to look wholly interested, especially Ron.  
"I was falling asleep," she continued, "when Parvati burst in with Lavender, but Lavender was all." she paused searching for a word, "well it was like she had gone mad."  
Daisy leaned in. She was truly interested now, and nearly wide awake. "Did she say anything?" she asked eagerly.  
"Yes," Hermione replied, "but she was muttering so I couldn't really understand her."  
"Not any of it?" Daisy asked, disappointed.  
"Well, she did keep saying something about someone 'getting her,'" Hermione said unsurely.  
Daisy's mind instantly flashed back to Halloween. The locked door keeping them prisoner and Lavenders insane cries about "something" coming back flooded through her head. She leaned back in her chair and wondered how and if this was connected.  
Ron and Harry hadn't said anything. They too had stayed up into the night so their eyes were a little glazed over. They had to invent gruesome predictions of their death for Divination class. Harry's chin was resting on his hands and, Daisy thought, he was dozing off. Ron stared dreamily at Hermione. Daisy would have been surprised if either of them had taken in a bit of what Hermione had just said. But she couldn't blame them. They hadn't been locked in a closet. They couldn't realize the importance of the conversation.  
But Hermione wasn't done with her story. "But the thing is, when Parvati was trying to explain what was happening, she made it sound as if this happens all the time."  
Daisy stared at her. "I bet this is the hard time that Parvati was talking about."  
"Me too," Hermione said, but then she caught sight of her watch. "We're late!" she cried, jumping up. Harry looked up sharply and Ron came out of his trance.  
"What?" Harry said sleepily.  
"We have Potions in five minutes!" she moaned. "It's a mile away! Snape's going to kill us."  
"We better go, then," Ron said and stood too. Harry slowly got up from his chair, and began to trudge along with them.  
"Have fun watching them," Daisy said from her chair. Her Herbology lesson didn't start for another fifteen minutes. She looked down the table and saw Fred. He had been away in Hogsmeade a lot this week for "business." She wasn't sure what he could possibly be up to, but she hoped it would be over with soon partly because she knew he wasn't supposed to be in Hogsmeade and mostly because she missed him already. She surveyed his profile until he started to sense he was being watched he slowly turned his head her way. She gave him a small smile and he waved her over.  
She paced over and took the seat next to him.  
"Hi Fred," she said. George and his friends looked her over, trying not to snicker. They always seemed to get an irresistible urge to laugh whenever Daisy came anywhere near Fred. It made her uncomfortable sometimes. "Um, hi George and Lee," she said.  
"Hello," they said, smirking. Fred gave them a look.  
"Excellent to see you again," he said. "How are you today?" he asked flamboyantly.  
"Good, I guess," Daisy replied, blushing. She was still contemplating Lavender. "How are you?"  
  
"Top-notch," he said. "I've got Care of Magical Creatures in a few minutes, though."  
"I have Herbology," Daisy said, high-pitched. She still got butterflies in her stomach when she talked to him.  
"Perfect!" Fred exclaimed. "I'll walk you?" he offered. George let out a high giggle. Fred gave him another glare.  
"Let's go," Daisy said, glancing at George. They left the table amid more chuckling.  
"At least I'm not related to any of them," Fred said, smiling. They went through the doors out onto the grounds. It wasn't snowing, but there was a fresh white blanket from the night before covering the landscape.  
"So what have you been doing in Hogsmeade?" Daisy asked, looking up at Fred who was wrapped tightly in his black cloak.  
"I can't tell you that. It's a surprise," he told her.  
Daisy breathed out loudly. "Really? You're keeping things from me?" she asked, mock hurt.  
"I guess," said Fred derisively. Daisy laughed quietly. They didn't say anything for a while. After a moment, Daisy looked over at Fred and saw his arm sticking out stiffly in her direction. He looked like he had been caught, but then he draped his arm over Daisy's shoulder warmly.  
Daisy smiled and leaned into him. They kept walking; the only sound the snow crunching beneath their feet, until they reached the Greenhouses. Fred looked down at Daisy and slowly leaned over. He looked into her eyes and then pecked her on the cheek.  
"Bye, Daze," he said, rushed. Daisy smiled at her new nickname. Fred strode away quickly, but Daisy could hear him sprinting away once he rounded the corner of the Greenhouse. She hoped it was because he was late, not because of her.  
"Goodbye, Fred," she whispered.  
  
The final matches of the Dueling Tournament were being held on the Quidditch Pitch in order to accommodate all the viewers. Ginny had made it and so, surprisingly, had Davey. Daisy was only surprised because Jasmine Ali had been his previous opponent. She was sure that he would have let her win, but there must be a line drawn somewhere, she figured, and for Davey that line was dueling.  
Hermione had struggled through the few days without using magic, and without practicing. By the time she was allowed to practice, she did so a bit overzealously. Again Daisy's robes were scorched.  
The protection spell was banned mostly in an attempt to keep Hermione conscious. She was probably the only Hogwarts student who could manage it, anyway. Ten curses were needed before the disarming to win. Hermione planned to flat out curse rather than use a strategy, as there would be objects to hide behind this time.  
The spectators weren't actually sitting in the stands raised high above the ground. They were going to look on from benches stationed around the pitch in a circle.  
The Gryffindor fans arrived at the site very early to set up their part of the stands. They adorned the benches with red and gold cloth, Gryffindor colors. Dean, the resident artist, drew several Gryffindor lion emblems on banners that the seventh years magicked to stay up in the air. There was a banner depicting the names of the three Gryffindors competing. Red and gold sparks had been sent up into the air like mini fireworks going on for hours.  
The other houses tried to show their spirit as well. The Slytherins had placed snake like decorations all around their side, but it just didn't match up, no one's did. It was apparent, but they would never admit it.  
The school gathered at eleven in the morning for the first year match. Davey was facing Alana Malfoy. Daisy hoped that neither of the Malfoys would win their matches. Their family seemed to be rich in dueling talent though. Daisy pictured the Malfoy family reunion. Draco's father, who she pictured with dark hair similar to Snape's, was barbequing hot dogs on the grill and yelling, "Come on kids, Rictesempra!" She laughed to herself.  
The referee of the matches was Dumbledore himself. No one would accuse him of favoritism or bad calls.  
It turned out, after a final "Magrilotto!" that Davey won. Alana scowled as Davey was pronounced, "Champion of the First Years!"  
Hermione sat beside Daisy, teetering back and forth nervously during the fourth year match. Ginny was leading, and Hermione's match was coming up.  
"Biulofger!" cried a purple haired, fourteen fingered Ginny. Her opponent's wand burst from her hand and plopped onto the snowy ground.  
"Finite Incantantem," said Dumbledore. "Ms. Weasley wins the match and the Championship!" The crowd broke out in cheers.  
"That's 400 points to Gryffindor!" exclaimed Lee Jordan.  
"Only 200 more to go," Daisy told Hermione confidently. Hermione took a deep breath and stood tall. The fifth years of Gryffindor applauded along with most of the school. Dumbledore beckoned Hermione and Draco to the center of the pitch. They came toward him, their eyes narrowed at each other in raw hatred. They circled around and took their places. There were several obstructions littered around the pitch: two half brick walls, a few boulders, a railing, and a gigantic overturned desk.  
"Bow to your opponent," Dumbledore demanded. They both leaned forward about a fraction of an inch. Dumbledore surveyed them from over his half- moon spectacles but said nothing except, "Wands at the ready!" They brandished their wands like swords and glared at each other. Daisy had never seen Hermione so full of malice. Obviously there was a history here that Daisy was unaware of. This was payback.  
"One." Malfoy muttered something only comprehensible to Hermione. "Two." Hermione sent a sharp comment back to him. They were both fully livid. "Three."  
"Blastono!" they both yelled in record time. Hermione was thrown back into the desk and Draco flipped backward over the brick wall.  
They got to their feet hastily and looked for cover. Draco straightened up behind the brick wall, but Hermione dove behind the desk. Draco couldn't tell where she was. He peered around the pitch, but he could not find Hermione.  
"Azuleon!" cried Hermione, her wand pointed from the side of the desk. Draco's skin turned a shade of royal blue. His white blond hair looked eccentric in contrast, but his expression was anything but. He looked down furiously at his blue hands and began to search for Hermione.  
She popped up from out of her hiding place in time to yell, "Confuddloice!" Malfoy's feet began to grow wider and squarer until they were the shape and weight of cement blocks.  
Draco was enraged at getting behind so early. "Pintsettia!" he shouted before Hermione could get back to her hiding place. Her face began to sprout, bud, and then blossom with tiny flowers.  
Malfoy tried to run to a different location, but it was a challenge as he had to pick up his concrete feet slowly and one by one. All he could manage was a slow trudge.  
Meanwhile, Hermione was relocating as well. She sprinted to behind the other brick wall.  
"Pepper eye!" Malfoy growled, as he got the chance. Hermione leaned over her hands covering her face.  
Ron sat up straighter. Through the whole match, he had been grinding his teeth louder and louder. Daisy was positive that if Draco showed too much over enthusiasm cursing Hermione that Ron would jump in with a few curses of his own. Magically and verbally.  
Hermione set herself straight. Her eyes were reddish and swollen. She was squinting like a mole. It was a good thing her target was bright blue.  
"Growstalk, blastono," Hermione said rapidly. Draco was again blasted back. He landed on the ground this time, but his arms were turning green. Leaves began to form along them and his fingers became vine-like. He could barely hold his wand.  
He bent over and performed a weightlessness charm on his feet. He barreled out of cover towards Hermione, but his large feet were still boxlike and unwieldy so he tripped onto his face.  
"Hartrever," Hermione cried popping up. "Coilatte."  
Malfoy aimed upward. "Blastono," he said again. Hermione zoomed backward. This gave Draco time to get to his feet and tower over her. "Blastono," he said again. Hermione was only driven into the ground more by the force. "Lococough, wryite, Graffle!"  
"Hermione could barely point her wand back to protect herself through the cough she had just developed. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she choked crossly. Draco rose two feet from the ground and in tune with Hermione's wand, flew across the pitch and fell smack onto a boulder. The Gryffindors cheered. Hermione only had to curse twice more, but so did Malfoy.  
They both took cover: Hermione crouched behind the brick wall and Draco leaned down on the boulder. Hermione dashed to the desk before Malfoy could spy out. He craned his neck around searching, but again did not see her. He rose up silently and crept towards the wall. As he got closer he became level with the desk and then was past it. Hermione sprang up from behind Malfoy. "Koyner, Rictesempra, Expelliarmus!"  
Draco turned around in shock as his wand flew through the air. The two of them were quite a pair. Draco was blue with block-feet and tree branches for arms. Hermione's face was covered with little flower buds and she was coughing up a storm. All of this was righted of course when Dumbledore cried, "Finite Incantantem! Ms. Granger wins the match and the Championship."  
The bench erupted in applause. Even Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were screaming at the top of their lungs because Slytherin lost and it was the most exciting match so far. Hermione grinned broadly at her friends and walked toward their proud compliments. She was fully conscious and thoroughly bruised. 


	14. The Dueling Team

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Thirteen: The Dueling Team  
  
That night there was a surprise banquet to celebrate the end of the tournament. The three Gryffindor champions were treated like royalty. The 600 points they had earned put them way ahead in the House Cup championship. Ravenclaw had won two of its duels, and Slytherin and Hufflepuff only took one victory each.  
"Ginny, where did you learn to duel?" George asked her over their chicken.  
"Ron sure didn't teach you," Fred said. Ron looked over at Fred with a frown. "And Perce is too busy as new head of International Magical Cooperation," he said with revulsion.  
Ginny smiled sheepishly. "Bill's taught me some things and, well, ever since first year I've tried to learn how to protect myself." She looked intently at her meal.  
"Attention, students!" Dumbledore requested. The sea of heads turned towards the old man. "Congratulations to all of the Champions. Now some points need official rewarding. To the first year champion, David Oaks of Gryffindor, 200 points."  
Daisy grinned down at Davey and clapped with the others. He was blushing madly. First years don't get school-wide attention very often.  
Dumbledore continued to the next champions. "To the second year champion, Stewart Ackerly of Ravenclaw, 200 points. To the third year champion, Samuel Abbot of Hufflepuff, 200 points. To the fourth year champion, Ginny Weasley of Gryffindor, 200 points." The Weasley family went wild cheering. Daisy, Hermione, and Harry especially, rooted along with them. As they finished, Dumbledore smiled and intently staring at Hermione said, "To the fifth year champion, Hermione Granger of Gryffindor, 200 points." The loudest applause of all broke out through the Great Hall. Daisy had stayed to watch the rest of the matches even though no more Gryffindors were competing, and Hermione's was definitely the best. Only a select few of the Slytherins, i.e. the Malfoys and thugs, did not cheer at the top of their lungs. A Ravenclaw, James Hafferty, was proclaimed sixth year champion and Slytherin Helga Bulstrode seventh year champion.  
"These seven students have worked hard, as have all of the entrants in the championship. They have not only great power, but great mind. The two together is what makes a good dueler. They had to use wit and strategy to go far. These students should be looked to in times requiring quick thought and strong character. Congratulations to you, Champions!" The crowd began to clap again. "Champions, please join me through this door at this time for a meeting." Daisy looked at Hermione quizzically. She looked back at her in confusion. She got up from her seat along with Ginny and they ventured up to the door beside the High Table. Daisy looked over at Harry.  
"I wonder what that is about," she mumbled. Harry opened his mouth to reply when a very small first year from Hufflepuff approached him.  
"Um, excuse me, Mr. Potter, sir, Pro-Professor Dumbledore would like you to, to join the meeting," stuttered the mousy haired boy. Daisy was strongly reminded of a house elf.  
"Er, thanks," Harry said, smirking and glancing at Daisy.  
"You're welcome, sir," said the boy. He looked up at Harry and then scurried away.  
"Well I guess I'll find out what it's all about," Harry said, shrugging.  
"Tell us when you get back," Ron said. Fred and George were looking at each other with mischievous glints in their eyes. They weren't saying a word, but Daisy could tell they were up to something.  
"What's up, you guys?" Daisy whispered to the twins. Fred looked over her as if sizing her up. He nodded then quickly looked over at George. George nodded, too.  
"Daze, we want to show you something," Fred whispered. "Come with us."  
"What about...?" Daisy murmured, tilting her head towards Ron.  
"Tell him you're going to bed or something," whispered Fred.  
Daisy wondered what the twins were up to and where they were going to take her. She looked over at Ron and said, "Well, I'm stuffed, I'm going to bed."  
"Okay, I'll see you later, Daisy," Fred said.  
"Night, Daisy," said Ron. As Daisy got about halfway to the door she heard Fred give a huge yawn, "I'm beat. I think I'll go, too."  
Daisy got through the door and waited in the empty dark Great Hall. A moment later, Fred appeared followed by George.  
"Now will you tell me what's going on?" she asked.  
"We want to know," said Fred.  
"What's going on," continued George.  
"In that meeting," Fred finished. It was creepy how they could complete each others thoughts. Daisy wondered if it was because they were twins and if so, would she and Harry ever do that?  
"We know a way into that room without anyone seeing us," George said.  
"We know this school better than Filch," Fred sighed proudly. Filch was the school caretaker. He could pop up out of nowhere through the hundreds of secret passages along with his creepy cat, Mrs. Norris. He hated the students and would dish out severe punishments to anyone who bothered him. Ron had told Daisy once that Filch was a squib and that was why he was so bitter. Daisy tried to sympathize for him, but he kept penalizing Fred, so she wasn't his biggest fan.  
"Are you saying we're going to spy on Dumbledore?" Daisy asked suspiciously. She didn't want to break Dumbledore's trust. He had given her a once in a lifetime opportunity to come to Hogwarts and had saved her life on Halloween.  
"We're investigating," George insisted. "It won't hurt anything. We just want to know what's going on."  
"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Fred assured. His tone was reinforcing, but his eyes showed that he really did want her to come.  
"I'll come," Daisy said. She was pretty sure it would be against school rules, but George was right, what could it hurt?  
"All right!" exclaimed Fred. "Follow us." They slipped around the hall silently. There were several tapestries bearing the Hogwarts shield on the wall. They halted in front of one of them. George looked over his shoulder and then slipped behind it. Fred did the same and beckoned Daisy to follow him behind the tapestry. She slid behind with him and found herself in a long, very dark passageway. There was a dim light somewhere near the end.  
They hurried forward. Their steps echoed slightly, and Daisy heard something like voices in the distance. She felt herself getting scared and grabbed Fred's hand without meaning to.  
Fred looked down at her anxiously. He gave her an encouraging look, squeezed her hand, and pulled her forward more.  
Finally they reached the end of the tunnel. The dim light was coming from two holes in the wall. She could hear a voice speaking through them. On closer inspection, Daisy realized the area around it wasn't made of the same material as the rest of the wall. It was more like thick cardboard, like the back of the portrait hole in Gryffindor Tower.  
"It's a painting of an old warlock," Fred explained softly.  
"It opens from back here," George whispered.  
"These holes are the eyes," Fred said, "You can look through if you want."  
Daisy nodded, and put her face up to the painting. She had to stand on her tip toes, but she could see. The group of champions along with Harry, Draco Malfoy and several older students were gathered around Dumbledore. He was giving what seemed to be a speech. Fred and George pressed their ears against the painting to hear. Fred was facing Daisy and he smiled pleasantly as he gazed at her. Daisy hoped he couldn't see her cheeks pinking in the dark.  
She peered through the holes intently.  
"The reason that you are here right now is because you are excellent duelers. The tournament was a test to discover the best. Not all of you won at the Dueling Tournament, but I know you have great dueling prowess. I am inviting all of you to join what I am calling the Hogwarts Dueling Team.  
"At the beginning of the year I was afraid something like the disappearance of the two first years would happen. The students of this school cannot be so vulnerable. Teachers cannot protect them at every moment. I'm counting on you to be there when the staff can't.  
"This team is a factor to defend Hogwarts against Voldemort mostly. I'm sure that none of you want Voldemort here, but I don't know about your parents." His eyes lingered on Draco for a moment. They made eye contact.  
"As a member of this team, you are not required to tell your parents. In fact I would discourage it. All I ask is that you keep this in mind: do what is right, not because it is easy, but because you care about something or someone. Your only enemy is evil and ultimately Voldemort. I ask you to put aside any bad feelings of anyone else who is on our side, and just remember how your life was a few years ago. Fight for that way of life, free of evil, a safe world."  
Draco's eyes, normally piercing with anger, softened. His expression changed to one of interest and understanding.  
"There will be weekly practices," Dumbledore said, "to keep you sharp with your wand and updated on the situation in the outside world. The first one will be held Monday in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Whoever shows up will be considered a part of the team. You are excused." The group looked around at each other solemnly. Daisy was quite sure that every single one of them would be at the first meeting, even Draco.  
He was looking over at Harry and Hermione. His mind seemed to be having a huge row with itself which was quite entertaining to watch. Finally one side appeared to have won. He got up and stumbled over to Harry. He said a few gruff words and waited for a reply. Harry said something coolly. Draco, trying so hard not to be uncivil that he seemed to be in physical pain, kept talking. After a moment of silence, Harry stuck out his hand. Draco started at it for a moment and then took it. Unsteadily they shook hands. Hermione was staring at them in amazement and Dumbledore nodded, satisfied.  
"We better get going," Fred said quietly. Daisy stared up at him. She had almost forgotten that she was in the dark corridor. They rushed back down the hall, but then they heard a noise.  
"They're this way, my pretty. Can you smell them, too?" said a voice from behind the tapestry. It was Filch. Daisy's heart skipped a beat. They were going to get caught; she was going to be expelled! Fred, however, was calm. He knew how to handle these situations.  
"Run like hell to the end of the passage. Our only chance is to get into that room," Fred said  
"But, what if Dumbledore's still there?" Daisy said, starting to sprint.  
"I'd deal with Dumbledore rather than Filch any day," George said.  
"Don't say a word," Fred said. Daisy shut her mouth to keep from yelling in distress. She looked over her shoulder. Light was flooding the other end of the passageway. Filch was inside. He couldn't see them yet, but to Daisy's ears their footsteps sounded thunderous. The hallway seemed much longer this time around.  
Filch was running now, too. "Who's wandering about and spying? You'll be expelled when I catch you." They rounded the corner and saw the two spots of light. George put on an extra burst of speed, and pushed the picture forward. They barreled through and slammed it shut.  
Daisy looked around wildly. Thankfully there was no one there anymore.  
"Quick," George hissed. "Hide in here." He was pulling open another painting, exposing a new passageway. "Filch will be here in a second!"  
Daisy was frozen to the spot. Her legs wouldn't allow her to move. Fred and George jumped into the hole, but Daisy just couldn't. She heard Filch's footsteps slow and his raspy voice whisper, "Only a moment now, my sweet. The train will be coming tomorrow."  
Daisy, shaking, looked to Fred, but he was already coming back through the portrait hole. He clutched her arm and pulled her forward into the hallway. Her legs regained some feeling and she dashed through.  
"Delohomora," Fred whispered at the painting, pulling out his wand. They stood still, catching their breath. They could hear Filch's aggravated cries. After a moment he stopped and tromped away.  
Fred let out the deep breath he was holding. "That was close," he admitted cheerily. Daisy laughed nervously. Fred outright chuckled.  
George, on the other hand was glaring at her. "What were you playing at?" he exclaimed angrily. "Were you trying to get us expelled?" Daisy looked at him wondering if he was serious. He looked pretty upset.  
"I'm sorry, I just got scared," Daisy murmured looking down.  
"It's okay," Fred said soothingly.  
"We can't take these kinds of chances, Fred," George snapped with another glare towards Daisy.  
"What are you trying to say, George?" Fred asked challengingly. Daisy definitely did not want to be the cause of this kind of conflict.  
"Why don't we go back to Gryffindor Tower," she suggested. George gave her a fuming look and Fred's face had a restrained sort of expression.  
"Sure," Fred said. "We've got to go the way we came though. This leads down to the dungeons." George didn't say a word. He swept past them and shoved the portrait open. Daisy and Fred followed behind carefully. It was clear that George was close to having a breakdown. They walked up the passageway slowly and silently. They finally reached the end, and slipped out from the tapestry. George stalked away ahead of them.  
"What's wrong with him?" Daisy asked as he left earshot.  
"No clue," Fred said sadly. "He's never been like this before, just recently. He's all concerned about the future. I just don't get it."  
"Maybe you should be a little more careful," Daisy said. "You've made it this far, why get expelled now?"  
Fred sighed. "I guess. It's just. Everything else is changing. There's no Hogwarts next year. The world's a mess. I just want to make the best of what time I have left. Getting in trouble is living it up is to me."  
Daisy could think of no reply to that. She just rested her head on his shoulder. She hadn't even thought about next year. Fred wouldn't be there. What would that mean?  
As they reached the portrait of the fat lady, Fred gave her the new password, "600 points." They ducked through. The common room was nearly empty. There were a few students doing homework and George was sitting in a corner with Lee Jordan playing Wizard Chess.  
Fred looked at him with a half apologetic smile. George gave him a cold glare in response. Fred scowled.  
"I guess I'll let you get to bed, then," he said.  
"Night, Fred," Daisy said.  
"Goodnight Daze," he replied. He cast another look in his brother's direction. He was rolling his eyes.  
Daisy turned to go up the stairs, but Fred said, "Wait!" Daisy spun around again and Fred kissed her smoothly, his hands holding her face. Daisy awkwardly rested her arms on his shoulders.  
"Now goodnight," Fred said smiling. Daisy grinned back up at him.  
"I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast," she said. She slowly turned again and walked up the stairs. She felt like twirling like a ballerina, but she didn't think that would be a very good idea so she just kept walking.  
She reached her dorm and flopped down on her four poster. Hermione jerked open her velvet curtain.  
"Well, where have you been?" she asked quietly so as not to disturb Lavender. Everyone tried extra hard not to bother Lavender these days.  
"Spying," Daisy said straightforwardly. "On you. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. I must get some rest. I've got a Potions test tomorrow."  
"Tell me now," Hermione pleaded. She was desperate to get some dirt on Daisy, as Daisy always seemed to know what she and Ron were up to.  
"Well, maybe," Daisy said. They sat for a moment quietly, Daisy thinking and Hermione looking hopeful. Daisy, giggling, burst into a full account of her night. 


	15. More Than Meets the Eye

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Fourteen: More than Meets the Eye  
  
The alarm clock screamed like an inexperienced clarinet.  
"Snooze, snooze," Daisy groaned. For once Hermione didn't have anything to say about putting off waking up in the morning. In fact, no one was saying anything. Squinting, Daisy grabbed her bedside glasses and shoved them on her face. "The alarm, Parvati," she moaned. No reply. Sighing loudly, Daisy stumbled across the room to subside the blaring racket.  
Silence waved over the room as she switched the alarm off. Daisy glanced at her roommates' beds, irritated. Lavender's and Parvati's were empty. Hermione was sitting very still on the edge of hers looking pale and frightened.  
"What's wrong?" Daisy said at once and sat down next to her.  
"How could you have slept through it?" Hermione asked in monotone.  
"What did I sleep through?" Daisy asked.  
"It was so creepy," she said. "Even worse than the night at the Hospital Wing."  
"What happened," Daisy asked again.  
"Lavender, she went mad. I thought she was going to kill somebody," Hermione said. "I don't know what's going to happen. Parvati tried to take her to the Hospital Wing, but I don't know. It was over an hour ago."  
"I can't believe I didn't wake up," Daisy said.  
"That magical alarm clock is the only thing that can wake you up," Hermione said, suddenly joking. "You snore, too."  
"I do not," Daisy said, but she reckoned that she probably did. Her parents used to say she did.  
"Well," Hermione said, "I can't miss class for this. It wasn't that bad." She said, shuddering.  
"I'm sure Lavender won't be there," Daisy assured.  
  
And Lavender never did show up. For three weeks, she was missing. People were talking about disappearances again, too. But no one really thought that Voldemort was behind Lavender's. Daisy heard rumors about St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. That was the common belief of Lavender's whereabouts. There, in a room with white padded walls. The whole of the school thought that Lavender had cracked and Daisy didn't blame them. They were probably right.  
Hermione didn't think to worry about Lavender for too long. She insisted, though it was only February, that she must start studying for her O.W.L.s and encouraged anyone who'd listen to study as well.  
Harry and Ron thought this was ridiculous of course. "O.W.L.s aren't for ages and you don't even have to take regular exams!" This was true, as Hermione had won the dueling tournament. Daisy agreed. Not that she didn't need extra work on O.W.L.s, but she had third year exams coming up on March 15th. She needed to reserve her study time for practicing Cheering Charms and Confusing Concoctions.  
Fred was always glad to help her with her exams, and took great pleasure in being cheered until the point of hysterical laughter. They spent many afternoons together doing homework.  
The middle of March came fast, and Daisy hoped that she would pass her exams. She did extraordinarily well on her Charms after using the Cheering Charm on Fred so much, but her Potions exam could have gone better. She was so nervous her Confusing Concoction let out a rare boom. In Transfiguration, Daisy attempted to transfigure a teapot into a tortoise, but it still had a handle by the time she was through. In Herbology, she was required to replant Professor Sprout's Hydrangulas in the dry, caked dirt. The Defense Against the Dark Arts exam was to curse a dummy three times, but after helping Hermione practice for the tournament, Daisy knew so many curses it wasn't a problem. Overall, she had done well, but she wasn't sure about Transfiguration or Potions.  
She walked down from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to the Great Hall hoping to catch a late dinner when she heard two loud drawling voices.  
"I don't need some stupid Dueling Team to protect me," said one of them. It was Alana Malfoy. Daisy ducked behind a statue of a one-eyed hag. "Besides, if what you said is true, then your father, or mine for that matter, won't be happy about this."  
"This isn't about Father. And who says he's always right?" said Draco Malfoy. "Anyway, nobody's going to tell him, are they?"  
Alana, sounding a tad scared, said, "Of course not. I'm just saying our family has always had good luck when we sided with the Dark Lord."  
"Shhh!" Draco said hurriedly. He stared around, looking to see if anyone was there. Daisy hoped she wasn't breathing too loudly. Draco seemed satisfied that they were alone. "You don't want to go shouting that around the school. And on the subject, I'm not quite so sure that I agree with him anymore. I don't want him tearing down the walls of Hogwarts, and I'd help stop him if it came to that."  
Alana had nothing to say to argue that. "Just be careful," she said. They left Daisy's portion of the hall so she slipped from behind the statue and down to dinner.  
Daisy had her opinions of Draco, but maybe she'd judged too early. She wasn't sure if her friends would forgive him so easily. Apparently, he'd been horrible to them over the past few years. Daisy didn't want to give him too much credit, even if he was shaping up.  
Fourth year classes were excruciating. Daisy wasn't sure how'd she'd gotten this far. Every Potions lesson, Snape seemed to want to test the potions on someone. Transfiguration was endless spells, and nothing seemed to work in Charms. She was amazed at how much time Hermione had to study for O.W.L.s when Daisy could barely finish her homework. Daisy knew she would have to start studying for those at some point, too. She was sure she wouldn't get any if they referred to "Ordinary Wizarding Levels," but she would try. She always would try.  
One particular essay for Charms was giving her quite a bit of trouble. She worked until nearly midnight before realizing that she needed sleep if she was to get anything done. She borrowed Hermione's wristwatch from Hogsmeade that had a magical personal alarm clock feature, so that she wouldn't bother anyone by waking up at three in the morning and fell fast asleep.  
It seemed that the three hours passed in no time before the magical alarm clock woke her up. If it was possible, she was more exhausted than she had been before she went to sleep, but there wasn't anything to help it. She still needed to finish her essay. She lugged herself out of bed and went back down to the common room where her half-written report was waiting.  
She was nearly finished two hours later, when she heard someone coming down the spiral staircase.  
"Katie is mad. Practice at five in the morning?" said a voice Daisy recognized as Alicia Spinnet, a girl on the Quidditch team.  
"I hear you," said another chaser, Angelina Johnson. "I just can't help thinking about Fred. This practice is going to be awkward as usual." Daisy was sure they hadn't seen her yet. She was in a corner with only a candle for light. No one had lit the lanterns and the sun hadn't yet risen through the window.  
"Why," asked Alicia. "Did something happen?"  
"Of course not," Angelina said. "I just don't understand why he's doing this. If it's to make me jealous, it's working. And that poor fifth year, Daisy, I think," she said. Daisy's ears pricked at the sound of her name. Something was starting to sound suspicious. "We had only been broken up two months before he went to Yule Ball with her."  
"It's so sad he's using her like that," Alicia said. Daisy nearly fell out of her chair. Fred had used her? And why was she unaware that Fred and Angelina had once been something more than friends?  
"I know. It's just obvious. Everyone knows it except for her. Why does he keep it up, though? She obviously really likes him," Angelina said. "He's just going to end up hurting her. That's why I broke up with him, so he wouldn't hurt me."  
Daisy felt a tear sliding down her cheek. She really thought Fred had cared about her. None of it was real. He was a good liar and he was sneaky, she'd always known that. But, she didn't think he would be so low. Why did she ever trust him? How could she look at him ever again? She wanted to take his broomstick and smash him in the head with it a few times.  
Angelina and Alicia finally left the common room still chatting. She knew that the other team members would soon be coming down if practice were at five. She grabbed her stuff and ran back upstairs to her room. Unfortunately, she collided with Harry on the way, her books and papers scattered, and her ink bottle smashed.  
"I'm sorry, Daisy," Harry said. "I didn't see you coming. Let me help." He bent over to help her collect the salvageable items and saw that she was crying. "Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine," Daisy snapped, quickly wiping her tears, mortified.  
"Sorry," Harry said. He said a spell to make the ink disappear when someone else started down the stairs. It was Fred.  
"Good morning," he said yawnily. "Need any help?" Daisy's blood boiled. How dare he pretend to care? "No, I don't need anything from you," she said icily, and then added, "George." She picked up her books and stalked off to her dormitory. She didn't think her essay would get done now. How would she concentrate?  
She positively steamed as she lay in her bed. Hermione wouldn't be up for a while, and Parvati was out cold. Daisy couldn't believe she had been tricked so easily. She never even suspected him.  
Two long perilous hours later, the main alarm went off. As usual, Hermione woke briskly and Parvati woke up gloomily. Daisy was already dressed and washed and ready, but she was sure she looked a wreck anyway. The ending of her essay was shaky and probably very confusing, but it was done. Hermione caught sight of her after a moment and her expression changed from ready-to-learn to very concerned.  
"What's wrong, Daisy?" Hermione asked. "What did I sleep through?"  
"Nothing I was supposed to hear," Daisy said. "Just the fact that Fred is using me to make Angelina jealous."  
"He said that?" Hermione asked dramatically.  
"Well, Angelina and Alicia were talking about it and I overheard them."  
"Are you sure they were right?" Hermione asked.  
"They seemed pretty confident about it," Daisy said. "They're all on the Quidditch team."  
"So is Ron. He's never said anything about it and they're brothers," Hermione said.  
"But it all makes sense this way," Daisy said miserably. "I wish I'd never met him." Hermione put her arm around Daisy's shoulder.  
An oblivious Parvati suddenly got up. "The bathroom's mine," she howled and raced to shut the door.  
  
Daisy wasn't sure how she got herself out of the dormitory that morning. All she knew was that she had sat through a horrible Charms lesson and now she was brewing an antidote to something or another, but she couldn't concentrate. Every time she added an ingredient, she couldn't help pretending it was Fred's head about to fall into the boiling pot of liquid. This, of course, resulted in fantastic booms. Fun for the Slytherins who were watching her lose points after every ingredient, not so fun for Daisy.  
  
"If I hear one more boom..." Snape warned. Daisy hardly had to use her imagination to fill in the blank. She had several ingredients left to add, so she tried to clear her mind. Ultimately, she failed, because the next sound she heard was another boom.  
"Detention!" roared Snape. "Stop that noise you insufferable squib!" Daisy froze along with the entire classroom. Her face turned a bright shade of scarlet. Daisy could tell by something in Snape's expression that he knew he had gone too far. Still, she wouldn't take that from anyone. She grabbed her books, got up and walked towards the exit.  
"Get back here, Ms. Peterson or it will be a week's detention!" Snape snarled. The door of the dungeons slammed shut. 


	16. Detention With the Runespoor

Okay readers, I've decided just to post the rest of the story today and be done with it. I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, reviews would be appreciated because I really did work to make this story a good one. Thanks a lot!  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Fifteen: Detention with the Runespoor  
  
Daisy spent the rest of her Potions lesson outside, letting the breeze behind the greenhouses cool her off. She knew that Fred had Herbology that time of day, but she tried not to peek in. She was still fuming at the thought of him.  
At the bell, she ventured to Transfiguration. Luckily, during the lesson on turning hedgehogs to pincushions, Daisy escaped any insult from Professor McGonagall, though Ginny Weasley kept looking at her sympathetically.  
The pureblood, Daisy thought bitterly, she's probably never had a magical hitch in her life.  
Daisy didn't see Fred at all for the rest of the day. It was a good, for she would have given him a piece of her mind.  
At breakfast the next morning, as Daisy was pouring orange juice into her goblet, one of the school's sleek tawny owls landed among the dishes and dropped a letter over her porridge. The owl took off as Daisy ripped open the heavy parchment envelope. It read:  
  
Your Detention will take place at seven o'clock tonight.  
Meet Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing.  
Potions Master, Professor S. Snape  
  
"The bat gets right to it," Daisy grumbled. Hermione glanced over Daisy's shoulder to see what she was talking about. She nodded at once. Daisy had told her all about Snape's outburst in Potions.  
"Snape has given her detention in the hospital wing," she announced. Daisy looked at her irritably.  
"No doubt he'll have you scrubbing something out," Ron said disgustedly. "The last time I had detention there..."  
"Don't even tell me about it," Daisy sighed miserably. Looking back, she sometimes wished she had stayed in the dungeons for the rest of the lesson, but she knew she couldn't have. It wasn't as if her classmates didn't know she was a squib, but it wasn't out in the open. It was quite embarrassing to have your teacher publicize it for the whole class. Snape should have been the one punished, not her.  
Daisy was pondering on the unfairness of it all as she trudged up to the hospital wing that night. She opened he door quietly and instantly saw the bright red head of Fred. He knelt beside a bed and was indeed washing something thoroughly. George was nearby at another bed. Madam Pomfrey rushed over to Daisy.  
"Hurry up," she snapped. "There is lots to be done. You'll start by cleaning out the bedpans over there with Mr. Weasley and Mr. Weasley. No magic." She handed Daisy a rag and pointed her to a stack of bedpans. Daisy wrinkled her nose in disgust, started for the pile, and knelt down next to it. Fred was straight across from her. He grinned widely.  
Daisy scowled. "What are you doing here?" she hissed. Fred looked taken aback.  
"I'm volunteering to clean out the hospital wing, of course." Daisy gave him a foul look; his sarcasm didn't seem so charming anymore.  
Fred continued in confusion, "Well I'm here for detention as usual. What's wrong with you?"  
"I know what you are doing," Daisy spat as she started to wipe away at her first bedpan. It was vulgar work. "I can't believe you would be so low."  
Fred turned pale. "How did you find out?" he asked, strained.  
Daisy looked down. She could barely speak and she was choking up. "I heard Alicia and Angelina talking about it yesterday when they thought I wasn't there," she said.  
"But how did they find out?" Fred started. He seemed very worried that someone had seen through him.  
"NO talking, this is detention," Madam Pomfrey said firmly.  
"I never want to talk to you again Fred," Daisy said coldly. She leaned over farther so that he wouldn't see her eyes watering up. He was more concerned with being found out than he was with Daisy being upset. Madam Pomfrey glared at them.  
The rest of the detention seemed to take an eternity to get over with, but when all of the bedpans were scoured, the windows shined, the floors mopped and the bedclothes cleansed, it finally ended. Fred tried to get Daisy's attention, but she walked away before he could say anything.  
Before she left the twins' earshot, she heard George say, "I told you. Look what she's doing!"  
Daisy fumed some more. What she was doing? What about what Fred was doing? As soon as she reached the common room, she went to her dormitory so Fred wouldn't follow her. She didn't understand why he wanted to talk to her anyway. Daisy didn't want to hear anything he had to say.  
"How was detention, Daisy?" Hermione asked.  
Daisy groaned. "It was awful. Fred was there. I had to scrub out bedpans, too."  
"Oh," Hermione sighed sympathetically. Then she sprung up. "I almost forgot! You got an owl."  
Daisy thought of Hibou. It had been months since she'd sent him to look for Sirius. With the tournament and exams, she had completely forgotten about him. Harry probably hadn't, though. She felt foolish and self absorbed.  
"Where is he?" Daisy asked quickly.  
"He's in the bathroom," Hermione said, only a bit amusedly. "He wouldn't leave until you came so I just let him wait in there."  
"Thanks Hermione," Daisy said and went in. Hibou was perched on the window ledge.  
"Hibou!" Daisy exclaimed. "Where have you been? Did you find him?"  
Hibou let out a deep owl breath. He seemed somehow older than he had before. "I did, but I couldn't bring back a letter, they wouldn't let me."  
Daisy looked back in horror, "He wasn't caught, was he?"  
"No, of course not. The Order of the Phoenix won't let him send letters. He's very deep under cover."  
"What?" Daisy asked, confused.  
"I can't tell you everything. They would only let me come back if I promised not to tell anyone, and you know I don't have any rights." He clamped his eyes shut for a moment as if thinking back on a terrible memory. "Sirius just wanted me to tell you that he is alright, and if possible he wanted you to somehow tell Harry and Dumbledore without exposing the truth whatever that means. He was being very cryptic. Is there something you're not telling me?"  
"No," Daisy said trying to sound convincing.  
"Anyway, I believe you now that he is innocent. He's working harder against You-Know-Who than anyone."  
"How come it took you so long to come back?" Daisy asked. "Is he very far away?"  
"I told you, I can't tell you a lot. But I can tell you the reason I took so long wasn't because he was far away. They wouldn't let me leave at first. They don't trust the Ministry, and I guess I am official property of the Ministry." He looked away again. Daisy wasn't sure he liked being treated like property. "It took me a long time to convince them that the only place I was going was Hogwarts."  
"I'm sorry," Daisy said. "I won't send you back."  
  
"I wouldn't go," Hibou said shortly. "I'm far too old for this. I'm retiring, if you'll let me. I'd like to spend more time with Maggie anyway."  
"Of course I'll let you," Daisy said. "Just let me visit, okay?"  
"Of course," he replied. He really did look older. He began to stretch his wings, when Daisy remembered something.  
"Wait!" she said. "I need you to deliver one last letter." Noticing his look, Daisy added, "It will just be here within the school."  
"Alright," Hibou agreed. Daisy scurried out of the bathroom, snatched a piece of parchment and bottle of ink of her bedside table, and rushed back in. She quickly scrawled a note on the parchment.  
  
Sirius wishes to tell you that he is not in any danger, though he  
can't tell you his whereabouts, and to tell Harry this as well.  
-A friend  
  
"Bring this to Dumbledore, but don't tell him who it is from," Daisy pleaded giving the note to Hibou. "In fact don't tell him or anyone where you have been or that I know anything about Sirius."  
Daisy could tell that Hibou was figuring out she was hiding something, but she knew he wouldn't find out and she didn't think he would tell anyone.  
"I wouldn't," Hibou insisted. "That's completely against owl ethics."  
"Thank you so much," Daisy told him. "You've been a good owl." She grinned the first grin she had for a while.  
"Goodbye, Daisy," he said and flew through the open window. Daisy left the bathroom, to find Parvati waiting outside the door, shifting her weight from foot to foot.  
"Took you long enough," she snapped and pushed Daisy out of the way.  
  
"That dratted owl!" Daisy exclaimed over breakfast three days later. The same tawny owl had been delivering Daisy's detention notices everyday, and Daisy had adopted a shoot-the-messenger attitude towards it. This morning instead of landing, it knew better, it swiftly swooped down and dropped the letter on Daisy's plate of waffles.  
Daisy picked up the sticky parchment while cursing under her breath. Her nightly detentions had been quite unpleasant, and she wasn't looking forward to any more. She read it through, mouthing the words, "Potions Master" snidely.  
"What're you in for today?" Harry asked. He had been a little more upbeat the past few days. Daisy trusted Dumbledore had given him her message.  
"I dunno. I'm supposed to meet Filch in the entrance hall at eleven. I don't suppose it will be too much fun."  
  
At eleven o'clock, Daisy was not pleased to find that she was again accompanied by the Weasley twins. Fred didn't get a chance to start before Filch showed up.  
"Follow me you two," he growled. He surveyed Daisy. "Hmm, new blood," he growled at Daisy. They started out onto the pitch black grounds. "Or new until a few days ago. Severus has told me your number. Dumbledore may think you can walk all over the regulations, but we know better. You'll get nothing past me, Missy. I'll personally make sure you are expelled if you choose to be so cheeky to me."  
Daisy gulped. Filch was just being creepy. They had reached the circular hut where Hagrid lived. The forest that bordered it looked thick and foreboding.  
Filch saw Daisy staring at it. "Yep, that's where you'll be tonight."  
"Tha's righ'" said a gruff voice behind them. Daisy spun around to see the large silhouette of Hagrid. He held two lanterns in one hand and the chain of an enormous boarhound in the other. "I'll take 'em from here, Mister Filch," he said.  
"I'll be back at dawn for what's left of them," Filch said before limping away, cackling.  
"Don't worry, he says that every time we have to go into the forest," Fred told Daisy. She said nothing, but turned away coldly.  
"So, what are we after tonight, Hagrid?" asked George.  
"Nifflers," Hagrid said. They're runnin' loose on the grounds. We're tryin' to find the den so as ter move 'em someplace else," he explained. "Righ' then. We're going to have to split up into teams." He pointed at Fred and George, "You both know the forest well, but I know be'her than ter let yeh off by yerselves. Fred, you take Fang. Daisy, you can go with Fred. Sen' up red sparks if yeh get into any trouble. Sen' up green if yeh find the den. Don' worry, Daisy," Hagrid said. "Fred can probly navigate through this forest easier than I can. Yeh'll be alrigh'.  
Monsters were the least of Daisy's worries. She couldn't avoid Fred until dawn in the forest, and who would want to? He knew the only way out. Hagrid handed Daisy a lantern.  
"Let's go." Hagrid and George followed part of the black winding path and Fred and Daisy started on the other.  
They walked a few yards in silence. Fred took out his wand.  
"Lumos!" he said. Daisy wasn't sharing the lantern light too well. He searched for signs of niffler, but Daisy had no idea what a niffler was so she just kept walking.  
Finally, Fred said something.  
"Listen, can I just explain."  
"I already know everything," Daisy said quietly.  
"I don't understand why you're so mad," Fred said, somewhat irritated. "I mean I might have pushed some limits, but it wasn't that bad. It doesn't even affect you that much."  
Daisy filled with anger. She was about to snap. "You used me!" she cried. "You never even cared, and now you're saying it wasn't that bad!" She felt the hot tears stream down her cheeks and turned away.  
"What are you talking about?" Fred said, baffled.  
"Angelina!" Daisy moaned spitefully. "You wanted her the whole time!"  
"Angelina!" Fred shouted. "Is she back to that whole story again? I don't even like her anymore." Daisy stopped dead. Maybe Hermione had been right. It was all just an awful mistake. She turned around and looked at Fred.  
"I heard her talking to Alicia," Daisy said quietly. "She, she said the only reason you went to the ball with me was to make her jealous. She said that everyone knows it except me."  
Fred wrinkled his nose. "That's not true!" he said. "Angelina might think so, but she's got no brain if she thinks I don't like you. I went to the ball with you because I do."  
"Really?" Daisy asked sniffily. She wasn't sure what to believe.  
"Yes," Fred said, his eyes pleading with her. "I wouldn't lie about this."  
"Then what have you been talking about?" Daisy asked.  
"Well, George and I did some not exactly honorable things to get our hands on a place for our joke shop," he explained. "In Hogsmeade there was a piece of land that was perfect for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, but the owners weren't willing to sell. We had the money, but we rather had to convince them to give up the land. I didn't really want to tell you because I thought you would never want to speak to me again, but you don't really want to speak to me now either, so there's no point in hiding it. Do you believe me now about Angelina?  
Daisy did, and she was so glad she did that she decided forgive Fred for whatever he had done in Hogsmeade.  
"Yes, I do," she said. She felt a sharp tingle at her ankle. Her head felt light and her knees weak. "Bloody Hell," she said and collapsing.  
"Daisy!" Fred shouted. "What happened? Are you all right? Daisy?"  
Daisy's vision was going fuzzy. She saw something wiggling. How funny, she thought. It's got three heads. She saw red showers over her head and a tan mountain with orangey flames on top.  
She felt something strong lock around her and then she was off the ground, flying.  
"Stay with me, Daze," said a nice voice. "You'll be okay. Stay with me, I love you." Daisy smiled crazily, then everything went black. 


	17. St Mungo's

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Sixteen: St. Mungo's  
  
Daisy's mind was a foggy white haze. Now and then, she could hear soft snippets of a conversation, but she had no comprehension of what they meant.  
"She doesn't have a lot of time, Albus. The poison is setting in."  
"Is there nothing we can do, Poppy?"  
"What she needs is a bezoar, but we couldn't get our hands on one unless we took her to St. Mungo's. That would take days to set up."  
"There is another option. We could petrify her, and then Portkey her to St. Mungo's."  
"Of course. She couldn't die if she was petrified."  
"The mandrakes should be able to travel with her. Professor Sprout says they will be ready any day."  
"But how would we petrify her?"  
"I know the spell."  
"Do it now. She looks even worse than a minute ago. I'll send an owl for a Portkey."  
"Yes."  
"Should I send it to the Ministry or the Order?"  
"The Ministry. Their Portkeys are more reliable, for now."  
"Do it now, Albus. Hurry."  
"Petrifico!"  
  
Daisy's eyes fluttered open to a room full of light. Her vision was fuzzy, as her contacts were gone. She was lying in a soft, comfortable bed, but she could tell already that it wasn't hers. She wondered where she was and snuggled into the pink striped bedding. She had no desire to get out quite yet.  
She was rather contented, but she did want to know what was going on. This place wasn't Hogwarts. She thought back to how she possibly could have gotten here.  
Her memory was blurred. She could remember breakfast yesterday. The owl had given her detention. She couldn't remember the detention, but she was sure it didn't involve waking up in a comfortable bed. What she knew was, somehow, things were all right with Fred. He liked her, not Angelina.  
  
She wearily sat up and looked around. Her glasses were on a bedside table beside her so she put them on. She was in a small room with windows along one wall. A single door stood in the center of the opposite wall. Daisy was slightly reminded of... a hospital room?  
She scooted up a bit more, and was about to get out of the bed, when the biggest house elf Daisy had ever seen burst through the door.  
"Good morning, Miss Daisy. I is Jingly," she said. Daisy gazed at the chubby elf. She had been to the kitchens with Fred, but she had never seen a fat house elf. It was very strange.  
"We're so glad you've finally woken up," Jingly continued. "I was thinking you never would. Here you are, eat this up."  
Jingly shoved what looked to be a slab of chocolate into Daisy's hands. Daisy realized that she was famished. She eagerly took an enormous bite, but nearly spat it out.  
"What is this?" Daisy exclaimed, her mouth full of the vile substance.  
"Medicine refined with chocolate," Jingly said. "Now that you are up to it. A few days ago, you could barely drink a potion."  
"What do you mean a few days ago?" Daisy asked, finally swallowing the pasty chocolate. "Where am I? How did I get here?" The reality of the situation was finally sinking in.  
Jingly looked at her comfortingly. "This is St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. You got quite a bite off what appears to be a runespoor. Of course, no one is quite sure how that is possible."  
Daisy was now thoroughly befuddled. She didn't even know what a runespoor was, much less remember being bitten by one. "What's going on? What day is it?"  
"It's April the 19th."  
Daisy thought back to her breakfast. That was the 5th. Was it possible that she had been out for two weeks?  
"I don't understand. What is wrong with me? Why couldn't Madam Pomfrey have taken care of this?"  
"You almost died. Runespoor is deadly poisonous. Dumbledore had to petrify you so that you could come here for treatment, a bezoar. We couldn't give you the potion to revive you until the mandrakes were ready.  
Something hit Daisy. If she had been here all this time, then she had missed loads of class. "Jingly!" she exclaimed. "When can I go back to Hogwarts? Can I go now?"  
Jingly laughed. "You aren't going anywhere for a few days. We need to arrange a Portkey and you need to recover."  
"I'm fine, Jingly. I need to go back." But Daisy suddenly felt very tired. Apparently, she had been sleeping for some time, but at the moment, she felt like she'd just stayed up all night. She lay back gently.  
"Miss," said Jingly, "is you alright?"  
"Just a little tired," Daisy said groggily. Her eyelids began to feel heavy and then close.  
"Rest then," Jingly said softly. She pulled the covers up to Daisy's chin and smoothed them over. "Sleep well."  
  
Scritch, scratch. Srittttch, scratch. Daisy's eyes blinked open. The room was dark and something wasn't right. She remembered she was at the hospital.  
Scritch, scratch. What is that? The nervous scratching was coming from below her. She donned her glasses, peered over the edge of her bed, and saw a small white-gray rat scratching at her bedside table. She looked at the table and saw an untouched sandwich. Her dinner, probably.  
The rat continued to scratch at the post in hopes, Daisy assumed, of getting at the sandwich. She had once owned a pet rat, Rosie, and she knew that they have a keen sense of smell. She picked up the rat by the middle and set it on her lap. It stayed calm, which surprised Daisy. Rosie usually got jumpy around new people.  
"What's your name little guy?" Daisy asked, scratching the fur behind his ear. He looked very old and a bit hungry. Daisy wasn't a bit hungry anymore so she broke off a piece of her sandwich and offered it to the rat.  
  
He quickly took it in his paws and began to nibble at it.  
"You're a hungry one aren't you?" Daisy said laughingly. The rat continued to gnaw away at the bread. Daisy noticed that one of its paws was gray, slivery even. She reached out to examine it, but it scurried away from her hand, abandoning the bread.  
"Wait," pleaded Daisy. She felt lonely all at once. "Come back little rat, I won't hurt you." The rat froze near her feet, and turned around. He carefully treaded back to the area around her knee.  
"You're smart, aren't you?" Daisy cooed. "What should I call you, then?" She hoped the rat would stay around. She felt extremely friendless, and though he was only a rat, it was something.  
The rat scratched its ear with his hind leg. "You look like a Scratchy to me," Daisy said. "Well hello, Scratchy. My name is Daisy Peterson."  
The rat went back to its bread, but its ears were perked up.  
"Well, I suppose my name isn't really Daisy Peterson," Daisy said. She thought about what she was saying. There wasn't anyone else around. What harm would it be to tell a little rat? She always told Rosie her secrets.  
"My real name is Daisy Potter," she whispered. "You know, Lily and James Potter were my parents. Sirius doesn't want me to tell anyone, though. He thinks Voldemort would somehow find out and come after me."  
Scratchy was sitting motionless on Daisy's lap. It felt good to be truthful, even to just a rat, after she had lied all this time to Harry and Dumbledore and everyone.  
"I didn't even know until last summer. That was when everything really started to happen. My adoptive muggle parents died and Sirius showed up at the funeral. Then I got my Hogwarts letter. It was late though, I'm a squib, but I guess someone at Hogwarts wanted me there, so I went. Then I met Harry and Sirius told me he was my brother. I've been lying about who I am ever since." Daisy slowed down. She hadn't realized how hard it had been, how hard it had felt to keep the truth until now.  
Her throat tight, she looked down at Scratchy. His beady eyes gazed up at her.  
She continued on, "But not to you Scratchy, you know who I am." The rat dashed away suddenly. Off her bed and through the door. "Darn!" Daisy said. She really wanted that rat to stay, though she didn't know why. She felt good about telling the truth, but suddenly she also felt a pang of guilt. Maybe she shouldn't have told it after all.  
  
"Jingly?" Daisy said a few days later.  
"Yes, Miss Daisy?" replied the motherly elf as she placed Daisy's lunch on her table.  
"When can I go home?" Daisy asked for about the tenth time.  
"Soon," Jingly assured for the tenth time. Daisy looked at her pleadingly for more specifics. She liked Jingly, but she was going mad in this place. She needed to get back to her lessons. She wasn't sure how she would catch up.  
Jingly sighed heavily. "You know, Miss Daisy," she said. "I think I heard some talking and perhaps you'll be leaving as soon as tomorrow."  
"Really?" Daisy asked hopefully. "Who did you hear it from?"  
"The supervisor," Jingly said quietly. The supervisor, Mr. Higuard was a wizard who looked after all the elves at the hospital. Jingly told Daisy that St. Mungo's elves were considered some of the best treated house elves in Europe. All the elves loved Mr. Higuard, but they referred to him only as "the supervisor."  
"Do people talk about the patients?" Daisy asked.  
"Only the famous ones, like you," Jingly replied.  
"Why am I famous?" Daisy asked.  
"Because you're the first Hogwarts student we've treated for fifty years," Jingly told her.  
"That can't be right," Daisy said slowly. "What about Lavender Brown? She came here only a few months ago."  
"There's no one named Lavender Brown here," Jingly said. "Certainly not a Hogwarts student."  
Daisy stared at her puzzled. Where was Lavender if she wasn't here?  
  
Indeed, the time for Daisy to leave was the next day. Jingly helped her get ready and explained the basics of Portkey travel.  
"I'll take you to the supervisor's office and there will be an old hat. You just need to touch it and then at the right time it will take you back to Hogwarts. It may feel a little uncomfortable, but it will all be over soon enough."  
Daisy smiled at her caregiver. "Thank you for all this, Jingly. You took such good care of me."  
"Oh, it was nothing. I'm just glad to see you've pulled through." Just then, something moved in the corner. It was a white ball of fur.  
"Scratchy!" Daisy said, picking him up as Jingly shrieked. "What's wrong?" Daisy asked.  
"Is that a rat?" Jingly asked.  
"Yes," Daisy said, stroking its fur. "He's my friend, Scratchy."  
"St. Mungo's has never had rats in its history," Jingly declared. Scratchy jumped from Daisy's grip into the pocket of her robes.  
"Looks like he wants to come with me," Daisy said.  
"One less rat," Jingly said, shrugging. "Well, come with me, your Portkey leaves in five minutes.  
Daisy checked her watch. 8:15 PM, it said. Daisy realized that it was actually Hermione's watch. She had never returned it. She guiltily took it off and stuck it in her inner robe pocket next to her wand.  
They journeyed through the halls towards Mr. Higuard's office, Scratchy sort of squirming all the way. Daisy had been out of her room a few times, so the strange art on the wall didn't surprise her as much. As always, the paintings moved around in their frames, but the subjects of these paintings were wildly abstract and colorful.  
Daisy walked through Mr. Higuard's office and sure enough, on the desk sat an old baseball cap.  
"Hello, Daisy," Mr. Higuard said. "I've just spoken to Dumbledore and he's expecting you in his office any minute now. Just a finger will do."  
"Bye, Jingly. Bye Mr. Higuard." Daisy placed a finger in the center of the hat and felt Scratchy moving more than ever. She waited a few moments and then there was a sudden jerk at her belly button. The office was gone and colors swirled all around her. She felt as if she was about to be sick and then she dropped to the floor.  
She got to her feet shakily, looked around, and realized there had been a terrible mistake. This was not Hogwarts. As she looked around the very dark room, she could tell, with a sudden burst of exhaustion that she was in Muggle London. 


	18. Truth

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Seventeen: Truth  
  
A chill ran through Daisy's body. Muggle London was certainly not a safe place to be. Scratchy, thoroughly spooked, leaped suddenly from her pocket to the floor. He scuttled away.  
Daisy strained to see him in the darkness, but instead she saw several dark shapes lying on the floor. She heard Scratchy crawl away and the door slam shut, narrowly missing his tail.  
There was one window at the very top of the room spilling moonlight on a patch on the floor. The shapes were in the shadows. Daisy thought for a moment that they looked like bodies.  
She pulled her wand from her robes. "Lumos," she said. She waved the beam of light towards them and her heart stopped. Lavender Brown and the two missing second years lay still on the floor. Daisy feared they were dead, but after gazing at them for a while, she saw they were only sleeping. She breathed a sigh of relief. Of course they were sleeping. She herself wanted to lay down with them and sleep, but she knew that would not be a good idea.  
She didn't know how to wake them up, but she didn't want to leave them there alone.  
She went to the door to see where she was, but as she turned the handle, she found it was locked. She pointed her wand at it.  
"Alohomora," she whispered. The lock didn't budge. It was a magical lock. How could that be if she was in Muggle London?  
Daisy's head began to spin with fear and fatigue. She sat down to clear her mind. Then she heard voices outside the door.  
"Wormtail, you're sure?" said a rushed high-pitched voice.  
"Yes, Master. I can remember it now," said a second slightly fearful voice.  
"How you could have forgotten surpasses me. How long do you expect me to forgive your blunders?"  
Daisy's stomach tightened as she realized who they were. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she had never been surer. She lay down completely and shut her eyes. She knew they would expect her to be asleep.  
The door opened easily and two men stepped in. Daisy saw through cracked eyes that one man was pale, tall and slender and the other was short with an ashen complexion and clearish hair. They stood before the open door.  
"That's her, Master." He pointed a finger at Daisy. She noticed that his hand was made of some type of metal.  
"Awaken." Daisy suddenly felt wide awake. She was left with only fear as she opened her eyes and looked into the face of Lord Voldemort.  
"Get up, girl," he demanded. Daisy scrambled to her feet. She hated him for what he had done to her family, mostly to Harry, but she wasn't stupid. She could play his game without betraying anyone.  
"What is your name?" he asked.  
  
"Daisy Peterson," she said as calmly as she could manage.  
Voldemort gave her a look that she couldn't read. "Who are your family?"  
"My parents were Jonathan and Elizabeth Peterson," she said. She didn't say this to cover anything up, they were more her parents than the Potters, no matter who had given birth.  
Voldemort gave her the same look. "Do you know that there are consequences to lying to me? Do you know who I am?"  
Daisy nodded slowly.  
"Then you'll know that I won't tolerate this. I know who you are, thanks to Wormtail here, or should I say Scratchy?" He gestured to the man beside him. He looked down at the floor beadily. Daisy stared at him in horror. Exactly what Sirius had told her would happen was happening. All she had done was tell one person.  
"Master traitor, he is," Voldemort said with a laugh. Daisy felt like she was going to be sick.  
"Miss Potter," he said. Daisy felt an emotion she didn't recognize at being called her rightful name for the first time. "I thought wiping your family out would be easier, but there is always a surprise with the Potters. No matter, it won't be long until you and your brother finally meet the rest of your family." Daisy glared at him coldly. She had had enough.  
"You can't kill Harry, you're not strong enough," she spat.  
Voldemort's eyes flashed with anger. "You will see soon enough. Summon him here, now."  
"No," Daisy said, blatantly refusing. She knew in that moment that she would rather die than sell out her brother.  
"You must show some respect," Voldemort told her. "This will teach you. Crucio!"  
Daisy's muscles all painfully seized up suddenly. She felt as if her bones were cracking. She couldn't bear it. She wanted it to end.  
A moment later, her eyes were opening from the floor. She got up quickly as she could to face her attacker. She looked at him with full hatred.  
"Do you need some more, or are you willing to cooperate now?" he asked.  
Daisy had never felt more pain, but she could stand it to avoid Harry's death. "Never."  
"Than perhaps we should change tactics," he said. Daisy was surprised. She wasn't expecting that, but before she could say anything, Voldemort already had.  
"Imperio." Daisy found herself floating on cream colored clouds. She had no thoughts or worries. Only paradise. A small voice said calmingly... Summon your brother... Summon Harry Potter, that's all you must do.  
Daisy took her wand out and pictured Harry in her mind. "Acciocuput Harry Potter," she said softly.  
Suddenly, she was back in the dark room with Voldemort. She gasped when she realized what she'd done. Why was the summoning charm the only one she could do properly?  
"Thank you so much for your services, I'll deal with you later," Voldemort said. "Slumber."  
Daisy grew tired again. She blinked her eyes strongly, and lay down. Voldemort expected her to fall asleep. The fact that she could take it was not something he needed to know.  
The minutes stretched longer and longer as they waited in silence. Daisy could barely keep herself awake. She wondered what would happen when Harry got here, or if he would come at all. She hoped he wouldn't. It would be all her fault.  
Voldemort was getting more and more impatient. Nearly an hour had gone by since Daisy had summoned Harry.  
"This may take longer than I expected, Wormtail," he said finally. "Watch the girl. I have something to attend to." He pointed his wand at Daisy and she feared he would curse her again, but instead he shot vine- like ropes out of his wand, binding Daisy's wrists and feet together.  
"Yes, Master," Wormtail said. Voldemort swooped out the door and shut it behind him. There was a moment of nothing at all, but then Daisy was alarmed to see Harry, an invisibility cloak falling from his shoulders, point his wand at Wormtail.  
"Stupefy," he said. Wormtail fell limply to the ground and Harry fell dead asleep, crashing to the floor.  
Daisy's ears listened for any sound. There was none. Her wand was still in her hand. She turned until it was pointed at Harry. "Awaken," she said, mimicking the spell she heard Voldemort say.  
Harry stirred, and his eyes opened wide. He saw Daisy and looked confused.  
"Harry!" Daisy said. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. Get away from here."  
"Slow down," Harry said. "What's going on?"  
"Voldemort, he's trying to kill you," Daisy told him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to summon you."  
"It's okay," Harry said. "Let me help you." He pulled a penknife from his pocket and cut the binds.  
Daisy stood up quickly. "We need to get out of here. Voldemort will be back soon."  
"I know. I've been here for about ten minutes." Harry said.  
"How? How did you get here?" she asked.  
"Floo powder," Harry said. "I told Dumbledore as soon as you summoned me and we both came, but he fell asleep the instant we got here. He's back near Diagon Alley. I went ahead and found you without him."  
"Where are we?" Daisy asked.  
"It's a manor or something," Harry said.  
"This is where Voldemort lives, I think," Daisy said suddenly.  
"What is that?" Harry asked looking at the sleeping students.  
"The missing second years and Lavender. Voldemort must have kidnapped them or something," Daisy said. "But we have to leave, now."  
"Wait," Harry said. "I want to take him with us." He looked down at the unconscious Wormtail. "He can clear Sirius's name."  
"Make him feather-light," Daisy said on a spur, she remembered the day in Diagon Alley that Maggie had made her books lighter. "Do you know the spell?"  
"Yes" Harry said. "Agilis."  
Daisy was nearly in tears with guilt. "I'm sorry," she said.  
"It's alright," Harry assured her. "I've been waiting for a chance to get Wormtail in my hands." They heard quick footsteps in the hall.  
"It's him," Daisy cried.  
"Get back down," Harry said. He pulled the invisibility cloak over Wormtail and himself. Daisy threw herself to the floor and shut her eyes as the door flew open.  
"Awaken," Voldemort roared. Daisy's mostly clear mind became even clearer as she looked at him.  
"Where is Wormtail?" he demanded.  
"I don't know," Daisy lied. "I was asleep."  
"You're lying," Voldemort yelled. He was insanely angry. "Crucio!"  
Again, Daisy felt deep pain. She screamed out and tried to keep her heart beating. She stumbled, about to fall over, and tripped on something very large. She flew over it onto the ground. The spell was gone, but she could feel the pain still. She shook uncontrollably on the floor and looked to see what she had tripped over. She closed her eyes when she saw. It looked like there was nothing there, but Daisy knew that it was Harry beneath the cloak.  
"What do we have here?" Voldemort said. He swept his hand over the spot and brushed off the cloak in the process.  
"Harry Potter," Voldemort whispered wickedly. "Here to save the day again, no doubt. Or at least your sister."  
Harry's eyes widened. "What the hell are you talking about?" Daisy shuddered.  
"Ah, she didn't even tell you," Voldemort said. "Daisy here isn't all she seems, are you?"  
Daisy looked up at Harry regretfully. "I can explain," she said.  
"Your twin, it seems, has been keeping things from you all year," Voldemort continued.  
Harry looked at her hurtfully realizing the obviousness of it all. "It's not true, is it?" he asked.  
"It is," Daisy said quietly.  
"That doesn't matter now," Voldemort said. "You'll both be dead in a moment. You see, Harry, as I have said over and over, you can't escape me. I was only so lucky to find a way to get you here. Your dear sister couldn't wait to tell a little rat about you. I knew you would come if she summoned you."  
Harry stared at her in disbelief. She bowed her head shamefully and looked away.  
"It's an ingenious plan isn't it?" Voldemort continued, "This spell. No one, not even your precious Dumbledore, figured it out. The more magical power you have and the closer you are to me, the more tired you get. I'm surprised you are still awake, but not your squib sister. She could last all night if she had to, the fake."  
"She'll be the next to go after you. Then your friends. All will fear me again."  
"Dumbledore will never fear you," Harry spat. Voldemort seemed to get even angrier.  
"As my friend Lavender tells me, he already fears me. The school hasn't been crazier since my memory set the basilisk on the school. These children have been very helpful to me."  
"But now it is your time." He raised his wand. "Av-"  
Daisy leapt from the floor and raked her hands around his neck. She would kill him with her bare hands if she had to.  
Voldemort tried to fight her off, scratching and hitting, but he seemed to be in considerably more pain than Daisy was.  
He was screaming out shrilly. Daisy saw that smoke was rising from beneath her hands. She held them still.  
Harry stood motionless, and stared.  
"Go!" Daisy yelled him. "Run away. I'll hold him off!"  
Harry looked even more intently and didn't move.  
"Go, please!" Daisy screamed. She couldn't hold on much longer. Voldemort's hands were beating at her. Harry took off, one of Wormtail's arms in his hand. Daisy moved her hands to Voldemort's face and saw the rawness she had left below.  
Voldemort gave one final cry and collapsed. Without a look back Daisy ran after Harry. She saw him up ahead and caught up.  
"Faster," she cried. She grabbed part of Wormtail and they sprinted through the maze of hallways until they found the door. They pushed open the glass pane and kept running. After a few blocks, they ducked behind a corner and sat down gasping.  
Daisy looked at Harry wearily. He looked back blankly and wrapped his arms around her. She held onto him with all she could. 


	19. Padfoot's Release

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Eighteen: Padfoot's Release  
  
They sat together for a moment, catching their breath and letting what had just happened subside. Tears ran down Daisy's face onto the back of Harry's robes, but he didn't move. At last, they pulled away from each other.  
Daisy looked down at the dark pavement she was kneeling on. Somehow, she couldn't look Harry in the eye. She felt naked and ashamed. Sobbing, she felt like dirt. All of this was her fault. Harry would never forgive her. No one would.  
"Daisy?" Harry said, confused. "Why are you crying?"  
"Because," she cried, "I lied to everyone except a rat and it almost killed you."  
"You saved my life back there," Harry said assuring. He put his hand on her shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong."  
Daisy sniffed. There was a long pause.  
"So it's true," Harry said. "You're my sister."  
"Yeah," Daisy whispered. "We're twins."  
"How did you find out?" Harry asked quietly.  
"Sirius told me. I knew about him a long time before you told me about him. Oh, I've kept so much from all of you," she moaned.  
"He never gave me a clue," Harry said. Daisy thought she heard a hint of bitterness in voice.  
"He was our parents' Secret-Keeper," Daisy explained. "They knew I was a squib and they thought that no one should know about me because Voldemort would come after us."  
Harry made a noise that could have been a laugh.  
"Well you see where that got us. I was adopted by muggles and I didn't even know about magic until this summer. Sirius met me at my parent's funeral and later wrote me a letter telling me the truth. He thought that we shouldn't tell anyone for the same reason as before. But I know it's true. Look." Daisy took off her locket and opened it.  
Harry stared at the picture and recognized the face of his mother.  
"That was with me when the Muggles found me. That's how they knew my name."  
"I believe it," Harry said solemnly. "That's the reason it hurts him when you touch him. You must have been there, too, when he came for us. Mum died to save us and left protection. Last year, you know at the Triwizard Tournament, he took my blood so he can touch me. But you still have it, it saved us both."  
Daisy's head swam. She was getting tired again. "Are you getting sleepy again?"  
Harry yawned. "Actually I am. But, I'm usually dead beat after a go with Voldemort."  
Daisy looked at him and saw he wasn't afraid. He was quite relaxed really.  
"I think that this was the best one though," he said. "We got Wormtail out of the mess, and I'm betting he'll clear Sirius's name in court under vertaserum."  
"That would be great," Daisy said. "As Sirius is my legal guardian and I officially have no where to go when term is over."  
"We should get back to Diagon Alley. No doubt Voldemort will have someone looking for us soon and we can't leave Dumbledore for long."  
"That's right," Daisy said. She stood up and grabbed Wormtail's arm. She could have carried him by the ear, but she felt such an overflowing relief that she didn't feel like hurting anyone.  
Harry grabbed his other arm not at all gently and they set off at a comfortable pace towards the Leaky Cauldron.  
"So," Harry said, "who do you think was born first, you or me?"  
  
An hour later, they sat with Dumbledore in a booth in the Leaky Cauldron sipping mugs of butterbeer. Wormtail had been bound and locked in a room heavily guarded by goblins brought in from Gringotts.  
They explained to Dumbledore all that had happened and the truth about Daisy.  
I remember it now," Dumbledore said. "The day you were born. It was at Hogwarts. When we learned that you were a squib..." He paused. "The Fidelus Charm makes you forget these things, even if they are the clearest memory. But I wonder now, how things would be different if I hadn't suggested keeping you from the world."  
"Now that Voldemort knows your identity, I think it won't be long before all the world knows, too. Do you know what that means, Daisy?"  
"I'm not sure," Daisy replied.  
"It means you will be famous. But as Harry will tell you, fame isn't everything. It will bring you enemies." Daisy nodded in comprehension.  
"With Wormtail it should be a possibility for Sirius to be cleared. Both of you are willing to testify at the trial?"  
"Yes," Daisy said.  
"Of course," Harry insisted.  
"Good, because that will be soon. So Voldemort is in London?" he asked calmly.  
"In a manor a mile or so away," Daisy told him. "Something went wrong with the Portkey."  
"I should have known," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort has ways of using the same tricks over and over again."  
"There's something new," Harry said. "The spell over Muggle London to make people fall asleep was his. The more magic you have and the closer you are to Voldemort makes you fall asleep faster. That's why it doesn't affect muggles."  
"That's why I can stay awake longer," Daisy said quietly. There was an awkward pause.  
"And you say the missing students were there?" Dumbledore continued.  
"Yes," Daisy said.  
"All five of them?" Dumbledore asked.  
"What do you mean?" Daisy asked. "There were only three."  
"The Malfoys went missing a few days ago," Harry said gravely.  
Dumbledore nodded, "We should send someone for them before the night is over. Voldemort will be on the move as soon as he is able. I'll contact the Order. They have squib and muggle allies. They will be key in this stage."  
Daisy smiled at the old man. She'd been feeling useless, but he was right. Even squibs would be needed to fight Voldemort.  
"Are you both sure that you are all right?" Dumbledore asked. They nodded.  
"Then to bed with us all. Sleep is a magnificent factor in recovery."  
  
Daisy and Harry were put in a room together and both of them lay awake that night. Daisy thought of what was going to happen now and at last, she thought of Fred. She couldn't remember when they had actually made up, but she knew that things were all right.  
"Daisy," Harry whispered. "Are you still awake?"  
"How could I sleep?" Daisy asked.  
"Were you the one who sent the message from Sirius a while ago?"  
"Yes," Daisy replied. "I'm the friend."  
  
Neither Harry nor Daisy was ready to return to Hogwarts the next day. Dumbledore agreed to let them stay in Diagon Alley until Wormtail's trial was over. Minister Fudge would not believe that Wormtail was alive until he showed up unexpectedly one day. He arrived in disbelief and left, as Daisy understood it, feeling dazed and shocked, with a still subdued Wormtail in custody.  
Sirius allowed the Ministry officials to take him back to Azkaban, but he knew he would only be there for a few days. No one else had been known to smile on their way to Azkaban, but he did. For him it was a sign of freedom rather than imprisonment.  
Two days later, Dumbledore led Daisy and Harry to the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. They were going to Judgment Isle, a small island near Azkaban, the place where trials took place.  
Generally, Portkeys were used to get to the Isle, but Dumbledore strongly discouraged any Portkey travel for a while. Instead, they would use Floo powder.  
Daisy had never traveled by Floo Powder before and Harry wasn't helping her get over her nerves. Apparently, he had had a bad first experience with Floo Powder. Daisy was just going to try to make it to the right chimney.  
"You go first, Harry," Dumbledore said. Harry nodded and stepped into the hearth. He took a handful of purple powder from a flower pot on the floor. He threw it at his feet and it burst into a brilliant green flame, surrounding him.  
"Judgment Isle!" he said clearly. The flame grew higher, engulfing his body and then he was gone.  
"You next," Dumbledore said. Daisy gulped and inched into the fireplace.  
"It's best to close your mouth and eyes," Dumbledore suggested, eyes twinkling. "And keep your elbows in."  
Daisy grabbed a pinch of the powder and stared at it a moment before dropping it beside her shoe. She braced herself for the burning flame, ready to be scorched. The emerald fire rose to her waist, but it didn't burn, rather it tickled a little bit.  
"Judgment Isle!" she said. At once, she shot upward and out the chimney. She opened her eyes for just a second and saw she was thousands of feet above the ground. She clamped them shut soon after.  
Only a moment later, she tumbled out of another fireplace. She stood and brushed soot from her arms.  
Harry was standing near the door, waiting for her. They were in a small cave like room with bumpy, tan walls. There were no windows, but the room was lit by two torches mounted on the wall.  
"Wild, isn't it?" Harry asked.  
Daisy scowled at her spotless brother and brushed more soot from her hair.  
"What should we do now?" she asked, finally presentable.  
"We will enter the courtroom," Dumbledore said from behind them, walking out of the fireplace.  
He took the brass door handle and pulled the door open. As they entered, they saw a vast room constructed the same way as the smaller room. It was lit by forty or fifty strategically placed torches. Rows and rows of benches rose nearly to the ceiling. On the ground floor, there was a chair with chains on the arms.  
Harry looked at them warily. "I've been here before," he said. "I went here in Dumbledore's memory once." Daisy nodded. "They had to sit in the chair and the chains."  
Dumbledore led them to a bench near the front. Other witches and wizards were filing in. They were discussing in a rushed and confused manner, as if arguing. No one was quite sure what was going on.  
There were no other kids in the room and people keep eyeing Daisy and Harry strangely. Minutes passed and finally it seemed that everyone had settled.  
A tall, bald man with a thick, brown mustache entered from a door on the right.  
"Order!" he said sternly. A slow hush fell over the room like a blanket. No whispers could be heard, only deep, baited breathing. "Members of the Magical Council of Law, you have been called here on this day to pass judgment on Peter Pettigrew for the crimes of murdering twelve muggles, serving as a Death Eater to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named now and in the past, and framing Sirius Black for his crimes for fourteen years."  
People began to sit up straighter in their seats and look intently at the man.  
"That's Robert Platt, he's the new prosecutor for the Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore whispered.  
Platt looked down his long nose towards Dumbledore. Daisy bit her lip. She knew what was going to happen next. Either Harry or she would be asked to testify.  
"As evidence against Pettigrew, I call Daisy Peterson to give testimony," Platt said smoothly.  
Daisy took a deep breath and stood. She walked toward the chair, but it seemed to be moving farther and farther away. Whispers and stares followed her. They didn't know who she was, why should they? She kept her eyes forward and continued toward the chair. The chains were ever more foreboding.  
At last, she reached the chair and she sat down heavily on it. Her hands felt cold and clammy. The chains were still.  
"Daisy Peterson, you have been brought here to present evidence to the Ministry of Magic about Peter Pettigrew," Platt said gently. It seemed he wasn't very intimidated by her. He paused and looked at her expectantly as though he wanted a response.  
"Yes," Daisy said quietly. She tried to keep her heart from beating so fast. She didn't know why she was so scared. Maybe it was the hundreds of eyes staring at her.  
"I see," he said. "Tell us, when was the first time you met Pettigrew?"  
Daisy reddened. The truth was she had met him when he was a rat, and she had started pouring out her soul to him.  
"When I was at St. Mungo's Hospital," she said. "He was, er, posing as someone else, well something else really."  
"Continue," Platt said interestedly.  
"Well, he was a rat," Daisy spat out. People's stares widened. "An animagus, I mean."  
"Unregistered," Platt commented. "Very good. But how did you know that this rat was Pettigrew?"  
"Well, the rat had a silver paw. I noticed it, and thought it was very strange. The day I was supposed to go back to Hogwarts from the hospital, the rat jumped into my pocket. I was going to take him back to Hogwarts to be my pet or something. It turned out that he rigged the Portkey to go to Voldemort's house in London instead of Hogwarts. When we got there, he jumped out of my pocket and ran out of the room. When he came back, he was a person. I saw that his hand was made of silver. I had heard that Pettigrew could turn into a rat, but I didn't know it was him until I saw him there with Voldemort. "  
Several people in the crowd gasped and many others cried out in outrage.  
"You mean to say," Platt asked slowly, "that Voldemort is alive?"  
"Yes, but Peter," she insisted. She wanted to get back to him. He was the one on trial. "He was there too."  
"Yes, yes," Platt said quietly. What Daisy had just said was sinking in. She couldn't see why it was such a shock, though. Who else could have been controlling London all this time?  
"What did Pettigrew do?" Platt asked.  
"He did whatever Voldemort told him to," Daisy said bitterly.  
"You're sure he was doing it voluntarily. He didn't seem to be under a spell or something like that."  
"No," Daisy told him surely. "He was doing it all by himself. He kept calling Voldemort 'Master.'"  
"Yes," Platt murmured intently. "Where does Harry Potter come into this?"  
The crowd gasped again, realizing that the skinny boy next to Dumbledore was Harry and many spun to look him. Daisy knew that Platt had spoken with Dumbledore so he knew the general story, but she wasn't sure if he knew the truth about her.  
"Voldemort told me to summon him, and," Daisy looked at her shoes. "I did."  
The witches and wizards in the seats stared hatefully at her. Of course they would. She'd given up their savior. But Platt didn't care about that. He was thinking about something more relevant.  
"Why you?" he asked. "He already had Hogwarts students, even another from Harry's year, I've heard. Why did Voldemort want you to summon Harry?" He did know.  
Daisy knew that now was the time to tell the world who she was. She had wanted this for so long. So why did she freeze up about it now?  
"Because..." she paused, wondering what to do. She looked at Dumbledore. His expression was encouraging and reassuring. Harry was nodding vigorously. His green eyes pleaded with her to tell them. The eyes that they shared.  
"Because I'm his sister," she blurted. The room burst into chaos. She heard cries, shouts, and even laughter. Everyone was and looking over their shoulder at Dumbledore, who nodded confidently, at Harry who was grinning sheepishly at his thumbs, or at Daisy who was sure they all thought she was crazy.  
"Order!" yelled Platt. After several moments, the room was silent enough to begin again. He looked at Daisy carefully.  
Daisy didn't know what to say. She was sure that no one believed her. A bright flash blinded her for a moment. She saw through purple smoke that it was a camera. Still, no one said a thing.  
"Miss Peterson," Platt said finally. "How is this possible?"  
"The, the Fidelus Charm," Daisy stuttered. "We're twins, but they didn't want anyone to know about me be-because I'm a squib and Voldemort is anti-squib."  
Again, people began to chatter. Dumbledore rose from his seat. "What she says is true!" he cried. The room was still. "I was there when they were born, there is no doubt."  
"Very well," Platt said. "Is there anything else you'd like to add to your testimony?"  
"No," said Daisy shakily. She had quite enough of being questioned.  
"Then you may be seated." Daisy walked as fast as she could back to her seat. She knew it wasn't finished yet, but she felt that somehow, things were about to get better.  
  
Harry was called up to testify next. He told of several meetings with Pettigrew since his third year at Hogwarts. His telling of his most recent meeting was similar to Daisy's except he credited Daisy with saving his life and told about knocking Peter out and bringing him back to Diagon Alley.  
The last words of his testimony were, "I hope he pays for what he did."  
  
"Peter Pettigrew, you have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law," said Platt disdainfully, "so that we may pass judgment on you."  
Wormtail was whimpering pitifully in the chair, his arms bound by the snakelike chains. He knew it was all over and so did everyone else in the room. Today Daisy, Harry, and Dumbledore were joined by Sirius, newly cleared by the Council of Magical Law. He had an expression of joy mangled by the fulfillment of revenge on his face. Harry watched Wormtail with loathing, but Dumbledore looked at him in disappointment  
"We have heard the evidence against you. You stand accused of being a Death Eater, helping Voldemort return to power, and murdering twelve muggles."  
Wormtail moaned, but couldn't say a word.  
"Now I ask the jury," Platt continued, "to raise their hands if they believe that these crimes deserve a life sentence in Azkaban." The entire right side of the dungeon raised their hands.  
"Then take him away!" Two towering hooded figures glided forward and seized Wormtail. He stood precariously and stumbled towards the door. Applause broke out throughout the room, hailing the capture of Voldemort's true servant, but it was nothing to the noise they had made yesterday when Sirius was declared free.  
Daisy would never forget how happy Harry had been. She was overjoyed herself. They would be going to live with him this summer. Finally, they had a home. 


	20. Draco's Punishment

The Girl Who Lived Chapter Nineteen: Draco's Punishment  
  
Friday, the day Harry and Daisy returned to Hogwarts, was crazy. Daisy had glanced at the headlines of the Daily Prophet before they left the Leaky Cauldron and she knew her peers wouldn't breeze by them. A story about Sirius being freed and Peter's trial ending topped the page, but the story beneath it was about Daisy: POTTER TWIN DISCOVERED, THE GIRL WHO LIVED. Beside the story was the not so flattering picture of a pallid faced Daisy taken during the trial.  
As she walked through the door of the Great Hall for breakfast with Harry, heads turned towards them like fire. Ron and Hermione jumped from their seats to greet them.  
"Is it true?" Hermione blurted out first thing. "And it's great to see you both," she said sheepishly.  
"Yeah!" said Ron eagerly. "So, are you going to tell us what happened?"  
"Yes," Daisy and Harry said in unison. They looked at each other, amused, and burst into laughter. Ron and Hermione smiled cheerfully.  
"Come on, we'll tell you over waffles," Daisy said.  
"Good, because I'm starving," said Harry heartily. They headed towards the Gryffindor table, students pointing and staring at them, when Daisy heard a voice behind her.  
"You know, I've always liked twins."  
Daisy spun around and saw who it was. It was Fred. He smiled warmly at her and Daisy remembered suddenly. The detention was in the Forbidden Forest and Fred and George had been there, too. She and Fred were partnered together to look for something and Fred told her what was really going on. It was in the forest that she had been bitten and it must have been Fred who...  
"You saved my life!" Daisy breathed.  
Fred squirmed and blushed a little. "I couldn't just leave you there," he said.  
"Thank you, Fred Weasley," Daisy said genuinely, and kissed him on the cheek. She noticed as she pulled away that she barely had to stand on her toes to reach anymore. She had been growing.  
Fred grinned jovially. "I missed you," he said. "So you're, er, fully recovered?" he asked awkwardly. Daisy knew what he meant.  
"We're good," Daisy told him confidently and paused a moment. "Come on. I've got to tell you everything!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to Gryffindor table where her friends were waiting.  
  
Most of Daisy's teachers were sympathetic about all the work Daisy had missed and were willing to let it go. But they couldn't change the fact that Daisy's fourth year exams were scheduled for next Monday. Snape however, refused to let Daisy pass until she made up every lost potion. This was possibly because he wanted Daisy to keep up in the class, possibly because he was sore that Daisy had been excused from her remaining detentions or possibly, and this was Daisy's opinion, just because he was foul and evil.  
Her classmates were full of questions and praise. Colin Creevey, especially, was paying a lot more attention to her. Daisy didn't really want to talk about what had happened. She hardly knew most of the people who were asking and she really needed to study anyway. That was how she wound up studying in her dormitory through most of the weekend.  
Half of what she was expected to know she hadn't even been in class for. Transfiguration was the transformation of a hedgehog into a pincushion, and Charms was the Summoning Charm, accio. Daisy thought that because she had no trouble with the people summoning charm, that this would be even easier, but she was wrong. The Summoning Charm was giving her a considerable amount of trouble.  
Good thing Harry was an expert. He told her that he had problems with the Summoning Charm in his fourth year, too and worked on it with her for hours until she finally got the hang of it.  
Monday came much too quickly. After her classes were over for the day, Daisy returned to each classroom and attempted her exams. Her hedgehog turned into an unattractive brownish pincushion, but as McGonagall said, "At least it doesn't squeal when you stick it with a pin." In Charms, the pillow Daisy was summoning came towards her, but it was with perhaps too much power, because it knocked her over. She hoped that not many points would be taken off her score. The rest of her exams had the same mood to them. She wouldn't do well, but she would pass, and that's all that mattered.  
Daisy spent the next few days in the dungeon brewing potion after potion. There were fifteen in all and they each took up to an hour and a half. She hoped her cauldron wouldn't melt, as she had heard Neville Longbottom's had. Other lessons were going on of course, but she tried not to get distracted. After each potion was completed, Snape would sweep by impatiently and harshly judge her work.  
The long days in the dungeons made Daisy stress out, but she wasn't the only one on edge. O.W.L.s for the fifth years were coming in less than a month. Daisy spent what little spare time she did have studying for those with her friends in the common room.  
One particular night when Daisy was ploughing through a recommended book, Charms of the Nineteenth Century, and Hermione was memorizing The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5) Daisy noticed that Harry had fallen asleep over Intermediate Transfiguration. She gazed at him for a while, noticing how sweet her brother looked asleep, when his face seized up in a cringe. Suddenly his eyes flew open and his hands went to his scar.  
"Ahh," he groaned. He seemed to be in a great deal of pain.  
"Harry, what's wrong?" Daisy asked loudly. But he didn't hear her. Hermione and Ron snapped to attention and looked at Harry.  
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed trying to get his attention.  
"Alana Malfoy," Harry gasped, "is dead." The room went deadly quiet.  
Harry got up from his chair, one hand still on his scar. "I've got to see Dumbledore," he said. He hurried to the portrait hole, pushed it open, and was gone. The other students in the room broke out in conversations.  
"What was that?" Daisy asked Ron and Hermione.  
"This happened last year," Ron said. "In Divination. He fell asleep and had this weird dream and when he woke up his scar hurt."  
"He told us last year," Hermione went on, "that his scar hurts when You-Know-Who is around or when he's murderous or something."  
"Then," Daisy said nervously, "Alana really is dead?"  
"The Malfoys didn't come back to Hogwarts with the second years, did they?" Ron asked.  
"No," Hermione said. "I thought they got sent home like Lavender."  
"They weren't with the others in London," Daisy said. "Do you think they just never found them?"  
"I dunno," said Ron. "I dunno."  
  
Daisy wondered about Harry all through that night and all through her potion making the next day. He wasn't at breakfast, but Daisy wasn't sure what she'd say if he were. She wanted to know what Harry had been dreaming about, but she didn't want him to feel bad.  
The fifth year Gryffindors had Potions with the Slytherin that morning, but Snape made sure Daisy sat well away from her friends. Harry was there and looking a lot better than last night, but Hermione and Ron kept glancing at him hopefully. Daisy could tell they were in the dark as much as she was.  
She did a sloppy job on her Aging Potion, watching her friends' lesson, but she hoped Snape wouldn't notice. He did seem a bit preoccupied.  
Harry's lesson was soon over, but Daisy couldn't leave yet. She still had four potions to go. Finally, Snape let her go to lunch, but only after she completed her Acid Brew. Only three to go, she would be done before dinner when her exam results would come.  
At lunch, Daisy, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ate their meals as fast as they could. They wanted to get to the library to study as usual. When they had all snarfed their sandwiches, they took off.  
They got to their usual table in the library and started reading, but no one was really studying and they all knew it.  
"Are you going to tell us what's going on?" Daisy asked after a few moments of uneasiness. Hermione and Ron gave her a look.  
"Do you really want to know?" Harry asked, surprised.  
"You don't have to tell us," Ron said.  
"Not if you don't want to," said Hermione.  
"I want to know," Daisy said. Ron and Hermione glared at her again.  
Harry took a deep breath. "I don't know how much of this I'm supposed to be telling you, but... I was dreaming about Voldemort again, and he had Draco and Alana with him."  
They nodded solemnly, but Ron flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name.  
"Voldemort was really mad at Draco. He said something about betraying him or something," Harry continued.  
"He also said that Draco had to pay for what he done and so did his family. He said that Draco would live with guilt for the rest of his life and that what he was about to do would keep Draco faithful." Harry paused.  
"Then he killed Alana, right in front of him. And Draco," Harry paused again as if to search for words, "he broke. I didn't think he cared that much about anyone, but he did. He was crying, begging to bring her back. That's when I woke up. Dumbledore checked it out, and things are making sense. He thinks it really happened. I'm just not sure what this means for Draco."  
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.  
"Will he stay on our side because he hates Voldemort for what he did," Harry said.  
"Or will he join him and beg for forgiveness?" Daisy finished off.  
They sat in silence for a moment contemplating.  
That thought stuck with Daisy through the rest of the day. She was glad she was making a Worriless Potion, because she got to test it out before leaving.  
At dinner, her exam results came back and announced that she had indeed passed the fourth year with not-so-flying colors.  
  
The next day was Daisy's first lesson, Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Hermione, Ron, and Harry as a fifth year. It was certainly interesting. Their moods had improved since the library yesterday. They had all agreed not to worry or talk about the Malfoys until they knew what had happened for sure. When that would be, they didn't know.  
After the Dueling Tournament, the class had moved on to cursed objects. Professor McKinnon explained how to identify a cursed item of clothing and passed out random clothes, some that were cursed, others that weren't, to be studied for signs of a curse. But the whole time she was abnormally upbeat and smiley.  
Daisy wondered about her professor's mood, but was soon distracted by Neville Longbottom who had tried on a cursed hat that was squeezing his brains out. Professor McKinnon rushed to help with the counter-curse, still smiling all the way.  
Daisy looked at to glove on her desk warily and glanced at Hermione.  
"Er, Hermione," she coughed. Hermione glanced at her, eyebrows raised. Daisy bobbed her head towards the glove. She needed a second opinion, or rather, a first opinion.  
"What do you think?" Hermione said.  
"Well," Daisy said. She really had no idea. "I'm almost sure it isn't, but will you just check?"  
"You really should know how to do this yourself," Hermione said.  
Daisy stuck out her bottom lip. "Please? I don't want to end up like Neville."  
Hermione sighed, but checked to see that Professor McKinnon wasn't looking and picked up the glove. She looked it over and tapped it with her wand.  
"It's fine," she said, handing it back.  
"Are you sure?" Daisy asked.  
"If course I'm sure," Hermione said briskly. "You could even try it on."  
Daisy shrugged, slipped the glove onto her left hand, and instantly felt it start to burn. She knew that Hermione had tricked her.  
"Ow!" she said in a low voice. She tried to pull off the glove, but it wouldn't move. "Get it off!"  
Harry and Ron snickered from across the table. Daisy shot a fierce glance at them.  
"You should know that I don't like to cheat," Hermione said, grinning.  
"Oh Non-Rule breaker Prefect, you are right as always. Now get it off!" Daisy said desperately in the quietest tone she could manage. Her hand felt like it was going to burn off.  
"Colfinus," Hermione said, pointing her wand at Daisy's glove. "Accio glove." The glove flew off Daisy's hand and Hermione caught it.  
"Thank you," Daisy said, cradling her hand. It hurt a lot, but Daisy had learned a valuable lesson. Never trust Hermione when cheating. At least they hadn't lost any house points. 


	21. A New Home

Alright, here is the last chapter. Thanks to anyone who read it all the way through! Also thank you to Pyromaniacal Llama, Silkenroses15, and ME for reviewing. Sorry these chapters were so slow to get put up. Goodbye everyone, please leave me a final review ( Here you are:  
  
The Girl Who Lived Chapter Twenty: A New Home  
  
June approached quickly and Daisy had to fight off the urge to go outside in the good weather. But she, along with everyone else, had to stay inside and study for O.W.L.s and end of year exams. She alone knew what the fifth year exams were going to be, and she wasn't to tell anyone else under threat of expulsion.  
But that didn't stop Ron and Harry from asking anyway.  
"Come on, Daisy," Ron would say. "Could you just give us a clue?"  
"Yeah," Harry would jump in. "No one will ever know."  
And of course, Hermione was on the opposite end of the issue.  
"But that would be cheating!" she'd exclaim. "You'd better not tell them Daisy, or I'll report you all."  
"You're such a Percy, Herm," Ron would say. They had gone back to teasing each other back and forth, but Daisy knew they still liked each other a lot. "Besides you're not even taking the exam." That would shut her up, but Daisy still wouldn't tell. She wasn't going to be expelled.  
"Will you do badly on your Potions, just so Snape won't suspect anything?" she asked.  
"That would ruin their averages!" Hermione exclaimed.  
"Sorry, I need all the points I can get," Ron said.  
"Very true," Harry agreed.  
Ron nodded for a moment then, "Hey!"  
"I suppose I could add too much armadillo bile or something," Harry said.  
"Thanks," Daisy said, smiling.  
  
Meanwhile, Fred was in Hogsmeade anytime he could get away to work in his shop. The Weasley twins were determined to open Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes by the beginning of summer. They were busy making their products whenever Daisy went to see Fred, but she didn't mind. They even let her help sometimes.  
Professor McGonagall let her students know that there would be a written portion to the O.W.L.s, something Daisy was dreading, but there would also be practical tests, too. Daisy had no idea what was in these tests. They didn't want anyone to have an advantage.  
And so Daisy started doing pages of O.W.L.s worksheets a day. Still, she was sure she would bomb the test. She wasn't expecting any O.W.L.s. Hermione was right with her doing the worksheet, well breezing through the worksheets, but Daisy didn't know why. Hermione could stop studying right then and still do well.  
It was almost a relief when, two weeks later, the first day of O.W.L.s began. All the fifth years were brought to the Great Hall and spaced out in their house tables to take the written exam.  
Daisy started wearily. A combination of powdered root of asphodel and infusion of wormwood produces what potion?  
Daisy had no idea so she put:  
swelling solution  
  
What are the basic ingredients of a Confusing Concoction?  
She didn't know that one either. How about:  
Scarab beetle powder and armadillo bile.  
She knew those were the ingredients from some potion.  
  
What is a bezoar?  
She knew that one. It had saved her life.  
A stone from the stomach of a goat, a cure to most poisons.  
A little life experience never hurt  
  
What is another name for aconite?  
Uh....  
Anocite  
  
This was going to be a very long, awful test. But as she went on, she was surprised at the number of answers she knew.  
  
45.) What spell do you use to disarm in a duel?  
Expelliarmus  
  
46.) What is the summoning spell?  
Accio  
  
Maybe she wouldn't do so badly after all.  
After 341 questions and four hours, they handed in their tests and broke for lunch.  
"How did you do?" Hermione asked. They all groaned.  
"The question is," Ron said slowly, "did Hermione get numbers 76 and 240 right, because that would ruin her perfect score." Daisy and Harry laughed.  
"I didn't get a perfect score," Hermione said quietly.  
"Really?" Harry asked. "Name one question you got wrong."  
"Well, you don't really know which ones you get wrong until you get the test back," Hermione insisted. Ron snorted.  
"What is another name for aconite anyway?" Daisy asked.  
  
The rest of the week was a wash of O.W.L. practical tests and end of the year exams. Daisy was confident about two things. She had done well in Herbology and dismally in Potions.  
Soon, exams were over and only a few days remained in the school year. They wouldn't get their O.W.L.s results until later in the summer, but everyone had an idea of how they had done.  
Daisy and her friends spent their free time outside on the grounds now that they had the chance. Daisy, Harry, and Hermione tried to teach Ron how to play soccer, but he abandoned it as boring and they ended up playing Quidditch quite often.  
It turned out that Gryffindor had won the Inter-House Quidditch Cup, but that was when Daisy had been at the hospital. She was none to happy about it. Gryffindor seemed to be in the lead for the House Cup, too, thanks to the points that Hermione, Ginny, and Davey earned in the Dueling Tournament.  
The time to award the cup, the end-of-year feast on the night before they were to leave Hogwarts, came entirely too soon in Daisy's opinion. She and Hermione packed their trunks slowly and ventured down to the Great Hall where they met up with Harry, Ron, Fred, and George.  
Daisy wasn't very hungry at all as she ate her chicken and ham with pumpkin juice. She was sad to leave. The walls were decorated with banners of scarlet and gold as a sign of Gryffindor's victory. Professor McGonagall grinned broadly at sight of the cup sitting in front of her.  
  
The next morning, it was time to leave for the Hogwarts Express. Fred and George were staying in Hogsmeade over the summer to open the joke shop. The carriages, finally recovered soon after Daisy and Harry's encounter with Voldemort, took them as far as the Hogsmeade train station.  
Fred pulled Daisy aside before she went to board the train.  
"Well," Daisy said slowly. She didn't really know what to say.  
"I'll miss you over the summer," Fred said looking into her eyes.  
"I'll miss you, too," Daisy said. She didn't ever want to leave. She would miss him very much.  
"I'll write you every week." Then candidly, he said, "On Tuesday. And maybe if I visit my mum and dad, you could come see me at the Burrow."  
"Definitely," Daisy agreed. Students were getting on the train.  
"Come on, you two," Ron yelled from the station. "You're holding up the train Daisy!"  
"Shut up, Ron!" said Harry and Hermione said together.  
"I have to go," Daisy said. "But..." and she kissed him. He kissed back and put his arms around her tightly. Daisy pulled back and smiled.  
"Goodbye, Fred," she said.  
"Goodbye, Daze," he replied.  
Daisy hugged him and stayed for a while in his arms. Then broke apart slowly.  
"Bye!" Daisy said, stepping back and not looking away.  
"Bye," Fred said with a laugh.  
"Bye." Daisy walked backwards towards the train and her other friends.  
"Bye."  
"Bye..."  
  
The train ride back to King's Cross Station was long and enjoyable. These were the last few hours Daisy and her friends were allowed to use magic before summer started. This meant they used it whatever excuse they had. They played several games of Exploding Snap and tried to get each other to eat Fred and George's joke candy.  
Daisy stared out the windows. The world outside them was growing foggy both literally and figuratively. She didn't know what was happening with Voldemort and his Death Eaters or with Draco and the other Malfoys. Was Pettigrew out of his mind yet in Azkaban? What was Fred doing? At least she'd know that by Tuesday.  
She was thinking all this when Professor McKinnon burst through the door of their compartment.  
"Daisy!" she exclaimed. "There you are. I just wanted to make sure I saw you before I left."  
"What do you mean?" Daisy asked getting up. Was she leaving?  
"Didn't you hear the news?" Professor McKinnon asked.  
"No," Daisy said curiously. "What news?"  
"I'm glad I get to tell someone myself," she said joyously. "I'm getting married! Do you remember Kurt, my friend from Diagon Alley? He asked me over Easter Holiday!"  
She held out her right hand, exposing a golden ring with a small diamond surrounded by what looked like ruby. Daisy and Hermione gawked at the ring, but Harry and Ron looked at each other in indifference.  
"So I won't be coming back next year," said the Professor.  
Daisy smiled even though she was crestfallen. "That's great," she said.  
"You'll come to the wedding?" asked Professor McKinnon.  
Daisy smiled sincerely this time, "Of course, Professor McKinnon."  
"I'm so glad," she replied. "And call me Maggie again. Professor makes me sound old."  
"Okay, Maggie," Daisy said. That always did roll off the tongue better anyway.  
"I'll owl you about the wedding," Maggie said. "And Hibou says," she paused, looking around, "or I'm sure if he could he'd say goodbye."  
"Er, tell him goodbye from me, too," Daisy said.  
"I'll see you this summer, Daisy. Goodbye Harry, and Ron, and Hermione."  
"Bye," they all said as she slipped out of the compartment.  
"That job really is hard to hold," Hermione commented.  
"I just hope that Snape doesn't get it next year," Ron said.  
They nodded in agreement.  
It was drizzling when they got to King's Cross Station. They grabbed their trunks and tugged them out onto the platform and through the magical barrier. Inside, they saw Sirius waiting, grinning widely. Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother was waiting for Ron and Ginny as well.  
"We'll see you both next year," Hermione said. "Write us lots of letters!"  
"Come and visit us at the Burrow," Ron suggested  
"We will!" Harry said.  
"Bye!" said Daisy. They ran to meet Sirius. When they did, they didn't know what to say. Harry had always wanted to go home to someone who cared about him, and now he was getting it. Daisy had all her life, though sometimes subconsciously, wanted to know the truth. Now that they had their wishes, they were silent.  
"Let's go home," Sirius suggested.  
"Yeah," Harry said quietly, a smile spreading over his face. "Home." 


End file.
